Naruto: New Universe
by Kirezen
Summary: This is the tale of Naruto Uzumaki, a Shinobi of the hidden leaf and the container of the Kyuubi, a Tailed Beast of unimaginable power. Though it may sound familiar at first there are a few differences that turn this entire story upside down. For example, the last of the Uchiha is no longer a he. That's not all that could be changed either. Read and find out. No pairing, yet. T-M
1. Here we go Again!

**A/N:** Alright, opening information about this story. I'll give a little background on it. I personally have been reading Naruto fanfiction for a long enough amount of time that I remember when _"Training for the Job"_ was one of the most popular stories on the site. Secondly, the idea for the story itself came from a varied amount of sources many of which you may recognize some you may not. However before we get to the meat of the matter I would like to explain why I decided to write in the first place. It may just be me, but I always feel a little bit of wanting, I want Naruto to stay Naruto just with a new story or romance. Most people prefer to change Naruto, either personality, fighting style, or even his character entirely, while sometimes that is nice, I feel like there are not enough true Naruto stories that are completed or done well. A personal gripe likely to myself is when they decide to give him a different summon usually something stupid like Dragons or Phoenixes. All of that being said, there will be some small 'changes' but honestly they're the types of things that should have been done to begin with.

Alright background and complaining done, the next note is about the story itself. If you haven't read the summary or want to know a bit more here you go. The 'hook' I suppose for the story comes from two different sources. The first and most noticeable one is that Sasuke is being gender bended into a female. The name I'm going with is one, I've seen in quite a few fics and seems to be the accepted female name for him, Satsuki. The second 'hook' what I personally feel like is more important is the fact I have the entire catalog of the story to use for my fic. I can fix some plot holes, minor writing issues and story problems that resided in particularly the first half of the show. One example being, Kakashi, everything Kakashi. There is a lot more but I won't ruin too much.

Almost forgot to mention, that as of right now this fic has no main pairing given the fact, that the majority of main characters are just 12-13 year old Genin. I have a few options that I'm currently between. I can post them if people want to voice their opinions.

 **Disclaimer:** Ya know I wonder if you actually have to do this, because writing on a parody site kind of already implies you have already agreed to write only parody to begin with. I would have to look at the terms and services of the membership agreement. Just in case however. Don't own the characters or show. Also don't own the image used for the cover art. Just thought it was cool and represents the fact that this story is made with the knowledge of knowing the entirety of the Naruto lore.

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 **Naruto: New Universe**

 **Chapter 1: Here we go Again**

Blonde hair and hard stares filled the streets of Konoha as a young blue eyed whiskered boy happily strutted through the village. However, there was something fairly different about him from what most people would see on a daily basis, the normally goggled forehead was covered instead with a blue cloth mounted with a scuffed metal plate the Konoha symbol adorning its center. At first there was a feeling of disbelief among the villagers who spotted it on his person as the current rumor had been that he'd failed the test, not earning the passing marks required. A smaller group had heard of another rumor that the boy had attempted to steal the scroll of sealing and they wondered if it had something to do with that. None however would risk a conversation with the boy more than a disapproving look in his direction.

Though normally disheartened by the stares, the blonde had decided that the stares would not bother him today, not a day as great as this, when he was finally going to be promoted to Genin! So with hands held behind his head and eyes nearly closed he made his way to the academy, where the rest of his classmates would be headed for soon themselves, he however was the first there. His excitement had made it difficult to sleep even after the events of the previous night so he had arrived earlier than most. Taking the seat he'd normally sat in, somewhere around the middle row, and in the middle of the room he sat waiting the adrenaline from the night before and his promotion starting to wane he'd almost begun to fall asleep when he heard a few quite steps from another pair of sandals entering the room.

At first he was curious who was arriving but the curiosity soon left his eyes and instead a look of annoyance replaced it as he gritted his teeth and looked away. "Tch"

"Hn" a feminine grunt was the only other sound in the room after the blonde's short but vocal disapproval of the only other presence in the room. Said girl who made the sound made her way to the far side of the room next to the window where she propped her hands up forming a bridge with them and leaning her chin on them before placing her attention outside.

The silence between the two kept until others began to make their way into the room filling up completely within the hour. The very last arrival was a particularly lazy one as his face barely seemed awake until he noticed another tired person in the room as well, one who he thought shouldn't have been there, despite his lazy nature he couldn't help but ask, "Naruto what in the world are you doing here? Only everybody who passed is supposed to be here."

As he said this the rest of the room's attention also turned on the two, as they too had been wondering about that same thing, but didn't want to seem uncool by associating themselves with the class pariah. This particular boy had no such reservations however, "Ya see this headband?" Naruto thumbed up to his head suddenly awake with anger induced energy at having to defend himself for being in the classroom, "Well do ya Shikamaru? Huh, huh?" the indignant tone of his voice was obvious to everyone listening in "This is proof I passed too!"

In his laziness he hadn't paid attention enough to even notice the difference in head adornment, "Troublesome, well whatever then." Without another word he just turned and went to the back left row of the classroom and sat next to a particularly heavy set boy and a long haired blonde girl. The sudden departure had shocked Naruto into silence as he didn't have anything else to say and simply sat and watched him go to his seat.

Now that he was awake again and paying attention to his surroundings he'd noticed that a certain pinkette was sat next to him and appeared to be waiting patiently for their teacher to come. Naruto decided to take this opportunity to try and talk to her, "Hey Sakura-chan! Any chance you think we'll be on the same team huh?"

" **CHAAAAA, HELL NO! I don't want to be stuck with a damn loser like Naruto!"** Ignoring the loud vulgar inner voice that liked to have its opinion known, the girl instead decided to temper her response, "Ugh, I certainly hope not, no way I would want to be on a team with you." Though it was still pretty insulting, the polite demeanor she spoke with give it a slightly lighter blow to his self-esteem which ended with Naruto groaning and laying his chin on folded arms and waiting for his now entering sensei.

"Good morning everyone." The happy voice of their teacher of the last several years in the academy caught everyone's attention as he smiled towards the rest of the class from in front of his desk, clipboard in hand. "First of all I'd like to say congratulations to everyone who passed their exams, and we'll now be listing off the teams that you are all one, beginning with team…."

"Team Seven will be Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto's head immediately perked at the mention of his name along with his team number. "Sakura Haruno"

"Woo!" Naruto's arms raised up immediately with excitement at the mention of his long held crush being placed on the same team as him. Which also resulted in a downtrodden Sakura who seemed like she had a rain cloud over her head.

"And Satsuki Uchiha." This resulted in an annoyed grimace on Naruto's face and a hopeful look on Sakura's face.

' _She's the best Shinobi of our class both kunoichi and overall and maybe now I can get her to be my friend and I'll be even more popular then Ino-pig.'_ It was no surprise to her that Naruto seemed annoyed as well as it was no surprise that Satsuki didn't even seem to care, she hardly seemed to care about anything that wasn't related to training or getting stronger. Something which Sakura tried to copy somewhat at least. This resulted in her getting the highest test grades and by far the best book smart student in the class. Her Practical skills were abysmal however, as she didn't want to look too manly and wanted people to like her more than her rival Ino who was without a doubt the most popular girl in their whole age group.

Several hours later after the other teams had been named and their sensei come to scoop them up, the trio of Team Seven were still present and waiting, no idea why their sensei had not arrived yet. Worse yet, Naruto who'd finally awoken from his most recently nap had decided to get some revenge. Placing a well-used eraser on the crook of the door entering the room, he'd giggled to himself proudly, "This'll teach our sensei for being late!"

"Naruto you idiot that won't work!" Sakura couldn't help but feel for her teammate's annoyance but at the same time she couldn't condone this type of disrespect especially towards the person who was going to be their sensei.

Satsuki however, sat quietly waiting as stoic as ever, _'There is no way a Jounin would fall for something as stupid as…'_

Before she could even finish her though the door opened a tad more and with a poof of chalk an already grey haired face that entered the room was suddenly covered albeit not very noticeably in the simple trap Naruto had set. Of whom was cracking up quite proud of himself.

"Hahahaha! I got him! I can't believe he fell for it!" The immaturity of Naruto was shining through like a beacon as he pointed and laughed at the aloof Jounin.

Sakura however had immediately went into defensive student mode, "I'm so sorry sensei! I told him not to! I would never do anything like that!" **"Hell yeah! What an idiot to fall for that! Deserved it!"**

The most reserved member of the trio however, still had yet to say anything verbally but there was a slight change in her outward display, _'You've got to be kidding me, is this guy really considered a Jounin? What a joke'_

"Hmmm…let's see…" reaching a hand for his masked chin he simply finished with the same lackadaisical tone he had started with, "My first impression is that you're a bunch of idiots."

Moments later the group was now on the roof of the same academy building with Kakashi leaned back against a railing that covered the edge of the roof while the three, "idiots" were sat on a small set of 3 steps.

"Well now that we're all here why don't you guys introduce yourselves, one at a time." His aloof tone seemed to be something that team seven were going to have to get used to as he seemed less interested in himself talking and preferred for them to do it instead. In fact if one were to think about it, he almost seemed like he didn't want to be there to begin with or even wanted to bother with being a sensei.

"What exactly do you want us to say sensei?" The chipper tone of Sakura was honestly a bit much for Kakashi especially considering she asked a question and he honestly did have to answer it.

"Well ya know just the usual stuff. Your likes, dislikes, dream for the future, hobbies." He wasn't really sure how else to word it and just shrugged his shoulders during the description.

Naruto being the loner he was due to peoples dislike of him, wasn't entirely sure on the topic still, despite being the loudmouth of Konoha, he'd never been taught how to have a proper conversation. "Why don't you show us how it's done first, then we'll go."

Kakashi simply couldn't help but look at the group a little incredulously at first, before going into the example, "Alright, my name is Kakashi Hatake, hmm things I like and things I hate. Well I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future, never really thought about. And hobbies, well I have lots of those."

In the first show of team work since being formed all of team seven shared an annoyed look and Sakura noted, "Well that was a waste of time all we found out was his name." To which Naruto just nodded and Satsuki stayed silent.

"Alright, that should have been good enough now you guys." Crossing his arms "Let's start with you, the one with chalk on his hands."

Naruto still proud of himself simply smiled while he did his own introduction, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I like instant ramen and I really like the Ichiraku ramen. I hate the three minutes it takes for instant ramen to heat up, and my hobby is eating and comparing different types of ramen! My dream… my dream is to be Hokage one day! Not just that, I want to be the greatest Hokage in history. That way the village will stop treating me so badly!"

' _Kid is all over the place, first all he talks about is Ramen, but at the same time he wants to be Hokage. Definitely doesn't seem to be much like you sensei.'_ He shared a look with the boy before moving on to his next target, _'Well except for the good hearted smile.'_

"Alright next." His voice droned and single visible eye moved to Sakura who was almost far too happy to be next.

"My name is Sakura Haruno, what I like is having all kinds of friends dressing to look nice! I dislike it when Naruto bugs me! My dream is to one day be the most popular girl in Konoha! My hobby is taking care of my hair and dreaming of –sigh-" a blush spread on the young pink girls face as she squealed a little.

' _What I expected from her, most girls her age are most interested in looks and boys then training.'_ As his lone eyed moved to the girl who sat in between the other two however, he was surprised to see an intense look staring right back at him, _'Speaking of that however, she is the complete opposite of Sakura only dedicated to learning to be a Shinobi maybe a bit too much so.'_

"Last one." Losing its previous tone his voice sounded strangely serious.

"Tch, my name is Satsuki Uchiha, I hate a lot of things, and I don't really like anything. As for a dream, that wouldn't really cover it. It's more like an ambition, because I will reach it. I'm going to restore my clan's honor and kill the one who disgraced it."

The mood of the surroundings had changed greatly after her answer, but it seemed to please Kakashi who almost seemed to smile? Under his mask, "Very good. All three of you have your own unique ideas and personalities. We'll have our very first team 'mission' tomorrow."

This got the attention of the whole group and changed the mood back to one of curiosity, "What kind of mission!?" Naruto's brain went into overdrive to spit out the response as quick as possible before Kakashi could even finish.

"It's a particular task that the four of us will do together." As Naruto opened his mouth to ask another question Kakashi continued, "A survival exercise"

Sakura couldn't help but be confused, "We've already done that though, in the academy, shouldn't we be focusing on advanced training?"

Kakashi waved her with a short laugh, "This is something quite different from what you may have faced in the academy in fact." A grim look appeared on his face as he continued, "Of the twenty-seven graduates, who just finished only nine will actually make it, and the remaining eighteen will be sent back to the academy. Meaning the chance for failure is sixty-six percent."

Bursting out of annoyance Naruto yelled back in spite of himself, "Then what was that test we just passed for?!"

"Oh that was just to see who could potentially become Genin and take this test to see if they really had what it takes." With a hmph, he looked back at the group again, "That means I decided whether or not the lot of you pass or fail. So be at the specified spot tomorrow and don't forget to bring all your equipment."

"We'll be starting at 5 a.m. which means you better not be late." An internal smirk spread as he added the next part, "Oh and don't have breakfast, otherwise you'll just puke it back up."

The next morning the three shinobi of team seven all arrived at roughly the same time, Sakura in her usual red outfit with the spandex shorts, Naruto in his orange outfit which screamed I'm here kill me, and finally Satsuki. She arrived in a slightly different outfit then normal, a high collared sleeveless blue shirt. A light khaki skirt with black spandex shorts underneath. Her legs had tape running from the knee down on each leg with blue bind at the top and bottom. Instead of the arm warmers she normally had, they were replaced by tape on the wrists and small white elbow pads with the same navy trim that her shirt was colored.

Silence was all that filled the surrounding area that morning as the three waited the first hour went by and nothing but the sun rising changed, bringing on more light. Another hour and Naruto and Sakura had fallen back to sleep back to back to each other. Satsuki however, remained upright and vigilant. Finally as the third hour passed by, the happy sounding voice of Kakashi entered the training grounds causing Satsuki to shift herself around to see him.

"Morning everyone ready for your first day?" The low sounding voice of Kakashi was enough to immediately pop Naruto and Sakura up, albeit the pink one slightly faster both however immediately called him out for being late.

"Well you see, a black cat crossed my path you see, so I had to go back and take the other way here." He tried to pass off the lame excuse as if it were a normal thing but immediately was ready to get back to it as he walked off to the side, "Anyway, let's get started."

Finding the three posts there he pulled a timer out of his pack and placed it gently on the middle one it's time pre-set, "The alarm here is set for noon." A sound of jingling bells echoed slightly after he said this as he brought them up into view. "The task is actually really simple, you just have to take these two bells from me by the time the alarm goes off. That's it."

He pointed back to the posts from before, "However, if you don't get the bells you'll be tied to those posts and watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

The trio all had sudden revelations as to why they were told to avoid lunch after all it had been a ploy so that their punishment would be more severe if they couldn't pass. Sakura however had noticed something amiss.

"But wait sensei, why are there just two bells?" Her confusion passed to her teammates who had become equally curious.

Kakashi simply eye smiled as he did, "That is so that even if two of you manage to get a bell one person will end up tied to a post and disqualified for failing the mission of course. That means, that person will have to go to the academy." Shaking the bells as if to taunt them slightly he continued, "On the flip side, none of you could get a bell and you all fail as well."

"You're allowed any weapon and jutsu to try and take the bells, and unless you come at me with killing intentions you won't even have a chance." He fashioned the bells to his waist and turned to look back at the group of whom Naruto was cackling to himself.

"Tch, like we'd need to if you can't even dodge an eraser." To which he gave Kakashi a side glance to his smile cracking across his face.

"Class clowns are skill-less losers with bottom scores and can be easily ignored." His voice was stern but not angry, he was trying to instill that he wasn't upset at the jib, but he needed to let it be known that foolish pranking doesn't make a better ninja.

However, all Naruto heard was the term loser echoing in his mind, the same thing he heard so often from Satsuki, Kiba, and some villagers though not as often. Grabbing a kunai from his pouch he immediately took a couple quick steps forward before a sudden flash of nothing and Kakashi was behind him, bending his arm in an awkward angle so that the kunai was pointed straight at the middle of Naruto's neck.

The sudden show of speed alerted everyone, especially Satsuki, _'So he is a Jounin after all.'_

"Now, now, don't be hasty, I hadn't even said start yet." His voice had a certain sharpness to it that it hadn't had before showing that he was far more dangerous than he had let on. "But you did come at me with the intention to kill." Chuckling to himself, "What can I say, guess I'm starting to like you guys after all."

"Now. Start!"

Kakashi was going over basic ninja fundamentals and how they should be able to hide themselves in just a moment, and was mentally commenting them on doing well, until he turned to notice a very obvious orange ball of failure standing arms crossed in the middle of the clearing.

Still miffed about the earlier embarrassment Naruto was ready for his shot, "Right now! You and me fair and square let's do this!"

To be honest Kakashi really couldn't believe it, "Ya know, compared to your squad, you're kind of….weird."

"Yeah, well if you ask me the only thing weird here is your haircut!" Naruto mentally applauded himself for the comeback before immediately charging forward again, figuring his insult would give the Jounin pause. However when he reached into his pouch to grab something, Naruto immediately bounced off the balls of his feet backwards and waited to see what he was pulling out of the pouch.

"Shinobi battle tactic number one Taijutsu" Returning to the more aloof mindset he'd had earlier, he was starting to get disappointed again, thinking it was just another failure of a group.

Naruto was a bit confused at first, _'If he's going over taijutsu why is he reaching for a weapon?!"_ before his question was answered, Kakashi made a swift upward movement revealing not a weapon but a small orange book, with the words emblazoned on the front, "Make-Out Paradise" the cover was a man chasing a woman who appeared to be in some kind of dress.

Noting the odd look on Naruto's face, "What's wrong aren't you going to attack?" Seeing his eyes on the book he noted, "Oh don't worry, with your weak attacks it won't matter if I'm reading or whatever." He couldn't be bothered to come up with anything else. All of this much to Naruto's chagrin just annoyed him further.

Tightening his fist he charged once again closing the gap almost instantly, "I AM GOING TO CRUSH YOU!" After the first punch was blocked followed by his spin kick being dodged by a swift duck on the part of Kakashi, he immediately appeared behind him before Naruto's following punch had even pass through the air.

"Whaaa..what?"

"A Shinobi shouldn't leave their backs open to multiple attacks." His hands were in a tiger symbol as he prepared behind him, both Sakura and Satsuki noticed immediately, both under the impression he was about to use a powerful ninjutsu. Unfortunately for Naruto it was something far worse.

"Naruto look out!" Keeping herself still hidden, Sakura couldn't help but call out to him, not wanting to see him decimated by their Jounin Sensei's attack.

"Leaf Village Secret Jutsu!" At this point Kakashi made his move swooping underneath Naruto hands still in the Tiger sign before making contact, with his butt? "THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!" After a moment of discomfort and awkwardness, Naruto was sent flying through the air.

As if she were the only sane one Satsuki sighed and just looked away, "Those two are complete idiots."

Splash!

While Satsuki and Sakura were finally contemplating what they were going to do next two shuriken suddenly flew out of the water and began spinning towards Kakashi who without even moving his eyes from his book caught them both on his fingers.

Naruto finally made his way back to shore, making himself look as pathetic as possible panting and panting as he crawled back to shore. Kakashi simply sighed, "What are you doing now? Ya know if you don't get a bell by noon you won't get anything to eat." His voice was nagging bored at that, he was just waiting for it to end at this point.

"I know I know! I'm just so hungry…." He groaned followed by his stomach growling, which caused Kakashi to just turn and start to walk away.

' _Now!'_ As Kakashi turned away, Naruto's clones that he'd made in the water all jumped out landing just on the shore right in front of him. At first they appeared normal clones, until they all began running into formation making clear footsteps showing that they were solid tangible clones. This was a shock for everyone, and an affirmation to Kakashi on the rumors.

"You weren't expecting a shadow clone charge! I've got you now Kakashi!" His smile spread across his face, his plan almost complete.

As if he hadn't learned from his earlier tactic all seven clones including Naruto himself rushed straight for Kakashi, which was again just more of a disappointment to him. "You can't beat me with this Jutsu Naruto, and just because you act tough doesn't mean you're not still the worst shinobi out of the academy. Nothing is going to change."

Before he could say or do anything else a sudden jingle echoed as another clone jumped Kakashi from behind attempting to wrap its arms around his torso and lock him in place. "Wha..what? Behind!?"

As the first one grabbed him from behind the remaining clones all went after arms and legs in an attempt to better anchor him in place. "Heh! While you were focusing on me I had another one of my clones come out of the water and sneak up on you from behind! I've got you now Kakashi-sensei!"

"When did Naruto get this good? I can't believe it!" The pink haired girl couldn't help but gush over the sudden change that was happening, it was completely different from what she was used to seeing even moments ago.

Satsuki on the other hand was even more surprised, ' _I thought he was the dead last what is going on? Was he just faking it so everyone would underestimate him?'_

Naruto was closing in going for the hit and unleashed everything he had into the face of…himself? As soon as he'd made contact the visage of Kakashi switched into one of his clones and after the contact was made the clone disappeared leaving him and his clones simply confused and lost, "What but I thought I had him!"

' _So much for faking it, Kakashi let him catch him from the beginning so he could use the escape Jutsu and get out of there, what a loser.'_ Satsuki sighed, keeping a close eye on the battle still trying to find where Kakashi was and when she'd have her chance.

Sakura was equally disappointed in the result as well, unable to see how Kakashi was able to escape so quickly, _'He must have known the entire time, and let himself get caught, so much for Naruto making an impression.'_

As Naruto was reflecting on what exactly went wrong he dispelled the remaining clones not having a use for them and not wanting to waste his chakra when something shiny got his attention. "A bell! Kakashi must dropped it thanks to my attack after all! Haha!" As he rushed for the bell he suddenly got swung into the air by his feet as he felt something tighten around his ankles, "Whhaaa ahhhh!"

" _What an idiot, I can't believe he fell into such an obvious trap. Although I can't believe Kakashi doesn't even let his guard down around someone as stupid as Naruto."_ She shook her head as she watched as Kakashi leapt down to retrieve the bell and began to lecture Naruto.

' _He dropped his guard!'_ Using several weapons from her pouch she flung a variation of kunai and shuriken at the distracted Kakashi they appeared to make contact as well flinging his body a couple of feet before finally turning into a log.

' _Damn he tricked me! He made it look like he dropped his guard to lure me out! I got to move and find him before he finds me!"_ Satsuki quickly fled from her position and was attempting to find a better spot if she couldn't get the drop of Kakashi, but judging by the scream echoing through the forest he had just found Sakura who wasn't far off from her position it was likely too late. "Genjutsu, not surprised you got her with it, but you have to know I'm different from those two. It won't work on me."

"Keep telling yourself that, after you manage to get a bell eh? Satsuki-chan." His attempt to get underneath her skin seemed to work as she immediately revealed her hand, feinting an attack in order to led Kakashi into a trap which he triggered cutting a rope that unleashed a barrage of kunai.

After Kakashi dodged them, he was about to remark on her strategy when Satsuki suddenly appeared behind him and attempt an axe kick straight down onto his head, which Kakashi blocked with a resounding thud. Twisting her body mid-air, she followed with a sharp elbow, that was caught by Kakashi's free hand which had been used for reading a moment ago. Satsuki wasn't done yet though and attempted a final strike with her remaining arm attempting a strike jab which Kakashi just barely blocked by moving his hand from the captured elbow to stop the hit.

After he moved to block the coming punch, Satsuki used her now free arm to snake its way towards a bell, _'NOW!'_

Kakashi almost didn't realize in time as Satsuki managed to fling the bell not just once but twice with her finger tips before Kakashi pushed himself away, from the assault. _'Such ferocity, looks like I won't be able to continue reading now, oh well.'_

Two hours and some tying up later, Naruto found himself tied up to the middle log while a perturbed Satsuki and an embarrassed Sakura were listening to their sensei scold them. "Well due to your performances in this exercise I've decided not to send any of you guys back to the academy." This was news that immediately excited the three would be Genin until Kakashi continued. "Because I've decided that all three of you will be dropped from the program!" The shock immediately silenced the cheering of the three.

"But sensei you said that if we didn't get the bells you said you'd send us back to the academy!" Struggling against the rope to try and get free he yelled out again, "You can't just change your mind and decide to kick us out!"

"I don't see why not, the three of you don't even bother to think like real ninja to begin with. More like brats." The insult caused an immediate rise out of Satsuki who couldn't stand to be berated anymore like Naruto who couldn't charge out and did so herself, only to be immediately stomped into the ground and held there by Kakashi.

"I can't believe the denseness of you three, none of you came even close to understanding the meaning of this test. Why would we put you in three man squads to begin with!?" Despite his outward expression of annoyance his eye maintained a steady calm look, as if he wasn't expecting any sudden revelations.

"Gah! I don't know! We didn't make the rules how are we supposed to even find out!" Naruto frustration was the same if only outwardly expressed as the other two, Satsuki who just grunted into the dirt in anger and Sakura who was just worried about the whole thing.

"It's so simple. Teamwork!" All three Genin came to a sudden revelation about the meaning behind asking three Genin to go against a single Jounin.

Sakura however, ever the student wanted to be completely sure, "So you mean just us working together, as a team?"

"That's what I mean, too late now. Had the three of you come at me, as a team you might have had a chance. But it doesn't matter anymore it's over."

"But sensei if there are only two bells and we had got them, that would create internal conflict causing the team to break up!" Sakura was starting to understand the crux of the test but not the reasoning behind it.

"Of course, I purposely set it up to pit you all against each other." His face now losing its calm demeanor had now started to show a frustrated tired look. "I wanted to see if you could overcome your own interests for the good of the team, and be focused on the success of the mission instead of yourselves."

"Naruto you do everything on your own and didn't even bother trying to get help from your team. Sakura, you spent your time trying to find Satsuki and work with her ignoring the fact that Naruto was right in front of you in need of help." Finally his attention turned to the one under his heel.

"And you, deemed your comrades so useless you ran off not even thinking about them. Such arrogance. Missions are run in squads to be completed. Yes individual skills are important but teamwork surpasses that!" Sighing he released Satsuki and rose up to his feet finally.

"When a group of individuals focus on themselves instead of the group that can lead to failure or even death!" Kakashi slowly made his way over to the memorial stone and began to explain its significance to his team and after finishing he looked back at his team all somber and focused on him.

"Alright, I'm going to give you one last chance, but I'm going to go much harder on you this time." Turning fully around he looked at the three of them, "You'll have three hours to get a bell this time, and if you want to, you can eat lunch to recover some strength, except for Naruto. Do not let Naruto have any."

"Consider it punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself. And if anyone tries to feed him that person will immediately fail. I make the rules, and you follow them, that's it." His menacing tone felt icy as he finally walked out of view to let them eat.

As Sakura and Satsuki had begun to eat away at their food, Naruto's stomach began growl loudly and uncomfortably causing Naruto to grimace. "Don't worry about it guys I'm fine trust me, I can go days without eating, weeks even believe it!" A particularly loud growl followed that declaration as Satsuki sighed.

Reaching up with half of her remaining boxed lunch she conceded, "Here."

"No, way Satsuki, Sensei said not to!" Sakura too wanted to feed Naruto but at the same time didn't want to upset Kakashi.

"Listen he's not anywhere in sight, besides we need to work as a team, that includes Naruto and if he's hungry he'll be useless to us, and those clones look like they would be handy."

The compliment to his new technique caused Naruto to beam, and also helped Sakura understand he had a good point. Relenting she also held up her box, "Here Naruto, take mine I'm not that hungry anyway."

Naruto was about to argue when Sakura quickly got on to him yet again, "Come on hurry up and eat it already."

"But I can't you'll have to feed me I'm tied up." Little tears were forming at the corners of his eyes as he pleaded her as best he could.

Sakura was about to refuse when Satsuki perked up, "Hurry up you guys, he could be back any moment."

"Grrr…. Fine but it's a onetime deal clear!?" She finally reached up with her chopsticks a parcel of rice in-between them.

"Crystal!" He opened his mouth and leaned forward a bit munching on a bit of tasty food when a sudden explosion occurred right in front of them.

All three immediately thought the worse as well, as Kakashi came out screaming, "YOU!" As the smoke cleared, "You broke the rules and now I hope you're ready for the punishment!" He began performing some hand signs as the clouds overhead darkened as if a storm were coming.

"Any last words?"

"We did it because the three of us are one!" The only understandable reasoning coming from Sakura with quick affirmation coming from Naruto who was kicking and struggling.

"Yeah yeah yeah, the three of us are one!"

"The three of you are one? Is that it huh?" He held a menacing pose for a just a moment or too longer before the clouds above began to dissipate.

"You…pass." His eye smile returned and he leaned back up standing straight up in front of his group taking in their confusion.

"Yes, those who abandon the rules are trash, but." He looked up think of the man who told him the very words he was going to repeat, "Those who abandon their friends are worse than trash."

At this point Naruto couldn't help but acknowledge that their sensei was kind of cool after all.

"Team Seven begins their first real mission tomorrow, now let's go home." He smiled as he turned and began to walk back towards the village closely followed by Sakura and Satsuki.

"Wait a minute! I knew this was going to happen! You guys forgot to untie me!" Naruto called out to the rest of his team as they started on their way back to the village hoping they wouldn't just leave him there all night.

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright I know, stop, stop it right there. I know what you're thinking. Yeah it's almost literally a carbon copy of what happened. I wanted so bad to just skip over it. There were some minor changes though. Mostly in the simple stuff like plot holes and character alterations. Had to change Sakura's goal, make Naruto less of a retard and more of just an idiot. And obviously his clone would have dispelled if he punched it in the face. That's how Shadow Clones work. So just had to fix a few things, to make the chapter make sense. Also, I'm trying to tell the whole story. I don't want to just be like "This happens" then go right into what happens after.

I did shorten some events up also. I made it so team naming and team meetings were same day. I didn't understand why they were a day apart. All changes I'll be making for the most part are going to be common sense. Also, I'm considering doing a cool down chapter before wave. Giving you all an example of the difference in this Konoha compared to the one we see at the beginning of the show. It'll be focused on building the world around Naruto and some training and D Rank missions, before Wave. Which is going to be a BIG turning point for the fic, and where things get original. I just had to do this chapter the way it was, to get you guys accustomed to my writing style. I tried a few different dialogue switch styles to see what works best for me. ANYWAY. I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of Naruto: New Universe.

Queries:

Would you guys like Skill Levels shown at the end of chapters, where there are fights. I.E. Like what would be on a Ninja Card.

Do you want another C Rank before the Chuunin Exam?

Do you want anything specified or changed?


	2. The Beginning of Team Seven!

**A/N:** Alright! I got the first chapter out of the way. I'm proud of myself for completing it and starting this project full bore. My thoughts on the chapter are good. I'm happy how it went, though the pacing at times for me felt a bit off. Though not by much, perhaps I went a little bare on some parts, compared to others.

Now updates, I have an official poll now up for 'potential' romantic interests for Naruto later on. As much as I know some of you out there would love to see a bit of fluff or romance it won't be for a good while. They're just too young for that. The official genre of this story is Adventure/Romance. Though if I were to be honest it's really Adventure/Drama/Romance. The Romance is very important but won't be a full part of the story until further into the story.

Speaking of, as of now, the story is going to be following a more linear perspective of following Naruto mainly, but I'm considering dedicating chapters to expanding the stories of other characters as well. I.E. Have a chapter from the perspective of Kakashi or the other members of Team Seven. There is consideration even for an entire arc or short storyline dedicated to a side character. Like maybe a couple chapters strictly from Jiraiya's perspective. These are all just ideas however. Nothing is for sure, right now the main focus is to give you all the best possible chapter each week from the perspective of Naruto. Speaking of, I haven't yet decided on an update schedule, for right now I'm typing these up, reading them and will be uploading them. Since I have no beta I'm doing this whole story on my own.

 **Shout outs:**

Heroman45: For being the first official Reviewer of this story. To answer you, that will be in a flashback later on in the story. Else wise, thank you for reading and reviewing the story! People like you make the world go round. Also this chapter is officially dedicated to you as well.

 **Disclaimer:** Ya know I wonder if you actually have to do this, because writing on a parody site kind of already implies you have already agreed to write only parody to begin with. I would have to look at the terms and services of the membership agreement. Just in case however. Don't own the characters or show. Also don't own the image used for the cover art. Just thought it was cool and represents the fact that this story is made with the knowledge of knowing the entirety of the Naruto lore.

(Didn't add this before but it's probably a good idea to do so)

' _ **Tailed Beasts Inner Dialogue/Inner Sakura'**_

" **Tailed Beast Dialogue/Jinchuuriki Losing Control"**

' _Thoughts obviously'_

"Dialogue"

* * *

 **Naruto: New Universe**

 **Chapter 2:** The Beginning of Team Seven!

Along with his two teammates Naruto had been instructed to be at the training grounds early the following morning, around seven o clock to be precise. Being that the trio had just assumed their Sensei was late the previous two meetings because he hadn't yet been interested in their team, they chose to listen and indeed had showed up on time, arriving just as the sun had begun to creep over the distant mountains and trees. After about an hour of waiting the first one to vocally accept what they had gotten into by passing his test and being placed permanently in Kakashi's Team was Naruto surprisingly.

"Damnit" He just sighed after and looked to his two teammates, Sakura who was a couple feet away also leaning on the wooden railing of the bridge that crossed the small river that was present on the grounds.

"Looks that way." The annoyed voice of one Satsuki Uchiha mirrored his sentiment as her eyes met Naruto's for just a moment, before returning back to looking off into the distance.

Sakura as smart as she was didn't quite understand the exchange, given that her outlook on her superiors had always been more leaned in the, obey and respect direction. "Hmm? What are you two talking about?"

Satsuki had deemed to not even bother answering not really caring enough to do so, which left it up to Naruto to do, who did not have a very good way with words. Crossing his arms for a moment to try and organize his thoughts in a way that makes sense he simply turned to look directly at Sakura, "Uh… well basically Kakashi-Sensei is a lazy idiot who will never be on time." Nodding to himself he thought that was the best way to explain what he had put together.

Sakura herself couldn't help but agree, as the past couple times he'd had them meet somewhere at a specified time, he failed to show up, and the current situation was obviously following suit. Despite this however she had to play devil's advocate, "But what would happen if we tried to do the same? We'd be known as an entire team of lazy idiots, not to mention if one day we showed up late like sensei and he was here waiting no telling what kind of punishment we'd get for that!"

She made a good point, one that Naruto and Satsuki both had to accept, "You're probably right Sakura-Chan." He chuckled a bit and reached a hand back behind his head to rub at his neck, "Since we don't have anything else to do until Sensei gets here maybe we should go get something to eat? Eh Sakura-Chan?" A small blush started to creep up on his face as he made the suggestion and looked away embarrassed as he wanted on her answer.

To which she responded physically with a hard punch to the back of his skull, "Naruto you idiot, why would I want to go and do that!?"

"Ow. Ow. Ow.." Now crouched down on the ground Naruto held the spot on his head that she pummeled as tears welled up at the corner of his eyes, "That really stung ya know!"

"Yeah? Well if you don't quit bugging me I'll give you another lump too!" She held her fist up as an example ready to follow through on her promise if he didn't behave. "Besides hanging out with you around the village is like asking to be a social outcast, right Satsuki? You've seen how everyone treats Naruto. Total outcast and loser." She gave Naruto an icy stare that she'd seen the villagers give him a couple of times. That immediately shut him up so she sighed to herself in victory. Afterwards she humped and turned after the stare, which left Naruto incredibly quiet and unsure of how to take what just happened he actually froze for a moment.

Satsuki whose attention had slowly turned after she was mentioned watched the exchange and noticed the uncharacteristic change in demeanor for Naruto. His face that was normally overly happy and super charge with happiness so bright it would make the sun seem darker, had turned far too sullen. _'All she did was hit him and insult him no different from usual so why the sudden damper on his mood. Strange.'_ Deciding it would take too much effort to discover anything beyond that she shrugged internally before turning her attention back to the vast void of nothing in the sky that she had been looking out towards before.

For Naruto after he had gotten over that sudden freeze he turn towards the side of the railing and started to stare into the water, thinking about Sakura's words, she wasn't wrong after all, the village really did seem to hate him. For the longest time it was a total unknown to him as well, at first he had thought it was because he was an orphan so he took it as no one wanted to be bothered by some kid without a family trying to be all needy and wanting help. _'All I wanted was for someone to care…'_

After the incident with Satsuki's family and her being the last and only survivor of the massacre he found out that wasn't quite the case, as the village pretty much tripped over itself to help out. He so desperately wanted the attention she was given, so he did the only thing he could think of, he decided if people were going to quietly pretend he didn't exist he was going to loudly make them notice he did. It worked too! Kind of, the village definitely began to notice him, though it wasn't in the happy and helpful way like it was for Satsuki.

He quickly became known as a menace throughout the village for his endless pranks and vandalism but, he was known, people knew who he was. Really though it actually only made things worse for how people treated him, since he was finally being acknowledged as someone who was actually there instead of being ignored he was given icy stares. Like the one Sakura had just given him. She'd never done that before, usually she just yelled at him for being an idiot or lumped him on the head like she did a moment ago.

Naruto was a tough kid after all so the lumps he could take, but that look, it made him uneasy, especially since he found out why the people in the village actually hated him. _'The Fox'_ His mind couldn't help but go back to that night in the forest, just after he'd learned from the scroll of sealing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _That's right Naruto! You are the Nine Tailed Fox!" Mizuki's mad laugh didn't take away from his words, he was right, it was sealed in him, and the villagers mainly the non-Shinobi ones actually hated him for it, thinking it was controlling him or could burst out of him at any time._

" _I'm…the what…" Naruto shook with an internal fear and shock he'd never felt before, it was as if the one thing in the entire world that could happen to make his life worse had. He was so irredeemable that his life would only forever be mired in misery._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At least it would have been had it not been for Iruka. The man seemed like he loved Naruto as a brother, even saying something close to those lines before, but the fact he knew, and had at first disliked Naruto but got over it to see who he really was gave him hope. Hope that maybe he could change the minds of others that he wasn't the demon and he was just holding him in his body. Not just Iruka either but also Old Man Hokage, sure he didn't have a whole lot time to just spend with him since he had to look after the whole village but he always made sure he was taken care of and never wanted anything less than for Naruto to be happy.

' _So that means I have two. Two people who care.'_ A small smile started to creep back onto his face, that was two more then he had as a kid, _'Kakashi-Sensei seems like a pretty decent guy as well, he never gave me that look, and he's kind of cool, maybe he'll be my next friend!"_ The thought had actually gotten Naruto a little more excited, he couldn't wait for Sensei to get there now.

' _Still not sure about Satsuki or Sakura-Chan though…Satsuki doesn't treat me any different than anyone else, which isn't all that great to begin with, but at least she doesn't hate me. Sakura-Chan though…that look she gave me….'_ Before Naruto could dwell on his constantly changing thoughts, a lazy voice echoed through the air.

"Yo good morning my cute little Genin." A little half wave from his right hand was all that followed the greeting on his end which was not well received by his team definitely not Naruto or Sakura.

"You're late!" "Again!" The first voice belongs to Naruto and the second the pink haired Haruno.

"Yes. Well you see this little old lady needed help with her groceries so…" An eye smile appeared while he tried to soothe the two more energetic members of his team while Satsuki simply dropped from her perch and made her way over to the other three.

"Lame excuse!" "Quit lying Sensei!" The order reversed this time with Sakura making the first shout while Naruto quickly followed.

"But don't you want to know about our missions for the day?" A glint shone in his one visible eye, which finally quietened the two.

"Missions! Yeah! Let's goooooooo!" Sakura looked ready to hit him again for being such a "Loud Mouth!" As she called him.

' _Well his mood certainly turned around guess, he's fine after all.'_ The Uchiha heiress couldn't say she was surprised he always bounced back from things quickly this was no different. After all Naruto would be Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several hours later…

"So my cute little Genin what did you think of your first day doing missions for the Hidden Leaf?" His casual aloof tone and eye smile showed that he pretty much knew what they thought of it, but he thought it would be amusing to gauge their reactions.

"Those weren't Ninja missions, we were basically errand runners for every single one of those villagers! Cutting grass, pulling weeds, and painting fences. So dumb!" He couldn't help but let out his anger as he looked over to Sakura and Satsuki who definitely didn't look like they were going to disagree with him. However when he turned around again to look back at Kakashi he had that look that all adults had when they were about to explain something that should be 'obvious' to him.

"Satsuki, Sakura what about you two?" He kept the same look on his face while he waited for their answers as well.

"It's a waste of time." Considering she was directly asked by her Sensei and not to mention how annoyed she was, it was as good a chance as ever to voice her grievances. "I need, no I have to get stronger and that's not going to happen by doing…doing yard work!" Having let that out, she felt a calm flush over her and sighed.

"Sakura?"

Perked up by her sensei calling her name Sakura, thought about it for a few moments before answering, "Well, it actually kind of makes sense." Surprised her team mates looked at her and Kakashi simply smiled through his mask and motioned for her to continue.

"Well if you think about it, Ninja are what fuels the main economy for Hidden villages. And you can't send brand new Genin out of the village to do dangerous life threatening missions so instead you have them take care of the village." As she finished Kakashi smiled at her and placed a hand on her head.

"Good job Sakura that's exactly right, though there are a few other reasons as well." To which he looked over at the other two, who still seemed dissatisfied with the reasoning. "Like building teamwork, something the three of you definitely have to work on."

"Oh come on! I can work with Sakura-Chan just fine believe it!" Turning and pointing to Satsuki, Naruto quickly bellowed, "It's Satsuki-teme who I can't work with!"

"Like a dobe like you could even understand how to do anything teamwork related anyway." She reasoned back rather coolly to which Naruto seethed unable to respond with anything worth saying.

"And that's exactly why for now on we'll work missions until the evening and once we finish we'll come back here and work on team work and doing additional training." As he mentioned what their new schedule would be Sakura could see her free time evaporating before her very eyes. "And on days we don't have missions we'll train from morning until afternoon. From there the rest of the day will be up to you."

Noticing Sakura's glazed look at the realization he imagined that was her life was going to be basically consumed by training and missions he added a little coldly, "If this isn't exactly what you had in mind of being a Shinobi it would probably be best if you quit now. Otherwise you'll just die." He wasn't trying to scare them, much, but he wanted them to know the extent of which they would be needing to put in effort.

The amount of information he'd just fed the group took a few moments to be digested before they all had it, and all looked back at Kakashi nodding, "We got it." Naruto of course was the one who answered a grin on his face and a little bit of fire in his eyes.

"Fantastic, especially seeing as how you need the most work Naruto." The revelation seemed to be a shock the blonde as he immediately guffawed at the accusation.

"What do you mean Sensei? I've got the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and…. Uh." Before he could continue trying to think of what else he had exactly in his repertoire Kakashi pounced.

"That's exactly it Naruto. Sure you have the Shadow Clone Jutsu which is in itself a very impressive Jutsu, but you have no awareness, no other Jutsu aside from the academy basics, and you're not exactly Sakura when it comes to brains." He tried to refrain from calling the boy stupid and instead opted to compare him to Sakura to try and soften the blow which seemed to work as he acknowledged his faults.

"I guess you're right sensei, but what can I do, it's so hard to control my chakra other Jutsu are hard to learn." This was known to Kakashi and he had an idea that would help manage this issue somewhat. It was relatively simple, and could open the door for new ways not just for Naruto to train but the others as well.

Looking at his other two students he noticed they seemed to be contemplating their own faults, and how to rectify them to which Kakashi quickly rounded up, "Oh and don't worry I have training for you two as well that will help solidify your abilities as well. But before we get into that, there is a crucial skill the three of you need to learn."

"And what's that Sensei?" Sakura's light voice came across curiously to which Kakashi beamed.

"You see those three trees over there?" When the trio nodded he simply added, "You're going to learn to climb them." As he saw the looks on their faces drop he added, "By just walking up it." That got their attention.

When he looked at their blank stares he simply started to move towards one of the trees he was pointing at, and without looking away from the small orange book in his hand began to casually strut up from the base of the tree. One he reached the top he walked around the branch turning himself over and walked back down with the same slow pace, again never once looking away from his book. "Now the method to perform this technique is to concentrate chakra to the soles of your feet."

Closing his book and putting it into his pouch to emphasize the fact he wanted their attention he spoke again, "The fact is, up until this point any time you three have been using chakra you've been guessing how much to use, normally using more than you would need to and because of that you've been wasting your reserves. So by learning this technique you'll be training yourself to acquire much better chakra control." Naruto piqued up at that part of the description, as it was the thing he needed the most amount of work in.

"It also opens the possibility to learning vast amounts of new Jutsu as well, since your control will be so much more precise, and it'll keep you from wasting as much chakra, allowing you to perform more Jutsu." As he continued describing the method there was basically no downfall, every part of learning the technique helped you in some way.

Reaching into his Kunai holster he pulled three kunai out immediately flinging his arm forward leaving a single kunai in front of each of them, "Use those to mark your progress." The three Genin each bent over to pick up the kunai before all sharing a look, and of course Naruto immediately beamed. "By the way, it would probably be a good idea to take a running go to get your momentum to help you out with it, at least at first anyway."

"I'll get this on the first try! Believe it!" Not sure exactly how much chakra to gather he just channeled a bit to the soles of feet and smirked while getting ready to run. Taking off before the other two even had a moment to gather chakra they simply just watched as Naruto took off sprinting full speed towards the tree. The moment his left foot connected with the tree, it stuck however as soon as his right foot went to make contact he simply slipped right off falling backwards to land hard on his head. "Ugh! What?"

Satsuki who watched, noticed Naruto had not channeled very much chakra so preparing her own run up she took off for her tree after concentrating on pulling a lot more chakra to her feet. The strategy worked at first easily making her way up the first quarter of the tree before she felt the bark starting to crack under her foot before bursting outwards. As it happened she pushed herself off the trunk, to which she performed a very graceful back flip before landing softly on her feet. _'So, if you use too little you slid off, and too much you crush the bark underneath you. No wonder this technique is so useful it teaches you to maintain a constantly stream of chakra that amount of control would definitely come in handy..'_

Before she could begin another run up however she heard off to her right a very happy and chipper voice, "Sensei, I made it to the top now what?"

Both Naruto and Satsuki couldn't believe their eyes as they looked up to the top layer branches of the tree that Sakura had climbed to see her contently sitting on a branch swinging her legs like she hadn't a care in the world.

"Heh, well would ya look at that." Kakashi had voiced his thoughts out loud before turning to Naruto and Satsuki while motioning for Sakura to walk back down. "It seems as though we found who has the greatest chakra control of team seven haven't we." He gave a smile to Sakura, "Very good job, Sakura."

Looking at Naruto specifically now, "For someone who wants to be Hokage you sure didn't make it very far did you." Naruto frowned gritting his teeth. "Then again the Uchiha wasn't able to get it completely either, so much for being from a great clan huh?" Satsuki looked about ready to strike at the slight, before turning her attention back to the tree once again.

Sakura finally reached the clearing again, as Kakashi started to speak again, "Now Sakura, since you did so good you've now got two choices to choose from on what to do now."

"What are they Sensei?" She was still buzzing about being able to master the technique so quickly even if doing so meant her chakra capacity was so much lower then what Satsuki or even Naruto had.

Returning his attention back to the book he had just retrieved from his pouch he opened it up to where he had left off. "Well, you can either go home for the day, and rest up, be with friends, or you can stay and work on what you are still lacking. Whatever you decision is, is up to you and you alone." His tone as flat as ever, as he waited to see if she would try and improve herself, or stay left behind to go and relax instead.

' _Well it definitely would be nice to go home and relax, maybe go and find some of my friends…. But…"_ Her mind flashed back to earlier in the day when she had dreaded the schedule that Kakashi had laid out for them, and he noticed that she wasn't at all fond of that idea, _"If this isn't exactly what you had in mind of being a Shinobi it would probably be best if you quit now. Otherwise you'll just die."_ The words hurt just as much now if not worse as she repeated the words to herself.

"Uh, Sensei?" She cautiously called out to him, raising her head up from the downward angle it had been at while she contemplated what she should do.

"Yes, Sakura?" Kakashi, hadn't looked away from his book as he waited for her to say that she would be going home or stay and train.

"Can you give me some advice for building up my physical abilities?" Her voice sounded meeker then it had when she was still abuzz from climbing the tree but got stronger with each word determination starting to grow as she felt good about the choice she made.

If Kakashi was surprised he didn't show it, but he did turn to her finally with an eye smile before speaking, "Of course Sakura." Looking over to Naruto he called out to him, "Naruto make a clone for Sakura to spar with."

"Uh. Yeah sure, Kakashi-Sensei." He formed the hand seal and the clone poofed into existence just next to him before running to stand next to Kakashi in front of Sakura.

"Good, now Sakura. You are to spar with the clone for the rest of the evening." Sakura nearly blanched at the recommendation. It was only maybe an hour or two after noon, and he expected her to spar with Naruto's clone for the rest of the evening.

' _Maybe I should have just went home after all….'_ She tried not to show too much of a reaction as she looked at Kakashi and nodded. "Yes, Sensei…"

"Fantastic, Naruto, any time she managed to knock your clone out make more." Once the blonde nodded Kakashi simply shrugged, "Well see you all in the morning!" _Poof_ He was gone.

The moment Kakashi had disappeared Naruto and Satsuki were back at it, attempting to climb the tree each time getting further. Of course Satsuki's gains each time were a lot more significant than Naruto, who was barely getting a couple inches up each attempt. Meanwhile Sakura was picking herself up after yet another round of sparring with Naruto's clone.

Stretching and flexing her forearms she winced slightly, _'I hadn't realized how hard Naruto could hit, I really need to work harder on dodging him instead of just trying to block.'_ She sighed letting out a bit of air before she looked back at the clone and readied herself for the next round, silently lamenting the fact she hadn't worked harder in taijutsu at the academy.

Later that same evening, the sun had started to fade and it had gotten much cooler in the training grounds that Team Seven was at. Sakura was currently taking a rest it had gotten to the point where she was barely able to move and could no longer spar with Naruto's clone, which had dispelled. Panting, trying to catch her breath she turned to look at the progress of both Satsuki and Naruto after all the hours they'd spent training today.

' _Whoa, Satsuki is over halfway there, she's made really good progress.'_ She looked over to Naruto's and saw he had barely gotten a quarter of the way, some of his slashes had even intersected with previous ones. Overall it simply looked sad, _'If I know Naruto any moment now he'll get mad and throw a temper tantrum before he just gives up.'_

Almost as if on cue, Naruto stood up looking at his poor progress then over to Satsuki's before throwing his kunai down into the ground, "Gaaah! I don't get it!"

Sakura just shrugged to herself, _'Heh, what can I say, he's sooo predictable, like a little kid.'_ Before she knew it though, Naruto had stopped himself before he could start stomping and he'd walked over to her.

"Uh, hey Sakura-Chan, you got this down pat right? Any way you can help me out? Huh huh? Just don't tell Satsuki alright?" He had crouched down low so that he was even with Sakura who had been backed up against a tree while trying to catch her breath.

"Uh, sure I guess Naruto." She was honestly too shocked by this slight character change in him to refuse, he wasn't exactly bothering her he was just trying to learn a way to be better at something he was having a hard time with. She wasn't totally sure on what she could say to help him, so she tried to explain how she visualized her chakra when she channeled it to the soles of her feet and how she imagined using that chakra to try and feel the tree and grab at it with her chakra. "Oh yeah, and it's very important that you make sure to keep the flow nice and steady. Otherwise you'll lose your grip."

Naruto smiled and gave her the nice guy pose, "Thanks Sakura-Chan! You're the best."

Sakura was a little confused but she smiled, sure Naruto complimented her all the time usually stupid stuff she didn't even pay attention to but this time it was about something she did, and she had to admit it felt nice. "Uh, yeah no problem Naruto."

"Ah he's finally learning how to ask for help." Off in the distance a bit was the one eyed Jounin, reading away at his book while watching his cute little Genin team train. He was curious how they would do with this kind of training, and he had to admit he was happy. Naruto and Satsuki pushed each other, and Sakura had helped Naruto when he needed help on the mechanics. Honestly he couldn't have asked for a better result. He was also slightly surprised at how long Sakura lasted against Naruto's clone, "She must have been more determined than I thought. Guess this team has some potential after all." He smiled happily before finally leaving for real this time.

Letting out a sigh of his own Naruto rose up and made his way to the front of his tree again before channeling chakra to his feet imagining the way it would be swirled around the soles of his feet. Opening his eyes he started sprinting towards the tree once again, taking Sakura's words to heart and focused on keeping his chakra steady not letting it raise or lower as best he could.

As soon as his feet made contact he noticed a difference and made it at least ten feet past his previous mark before he needed to slash at the bark and jump off, due to the bark starting to give slightly leaving an impression of his sandals against it. Satsuki couldn't believe it, one conversation and he made that much progress it was unbelievable.

This went on for almost another hour with Sakura finally leaving after getting the feeling back in her legs, "I'm going you two." Unlike her two teammates she had parents who were likely waiting for her to get home, and she couldn't really do anything else either, she just didn't have the energy to do any more training. As she got ready to leave though she could see the determination on her two teammates faces, they would likely keep going, "Don't stay too much longer we do have missions to complete tomorrow!"

With that she was gone, and Satsuki looked over towards Naruto then at his progress, which had been a huge jumped compared to when they had started, he had nearly caught up with her. The jump in the marks was a huge difference as well, gritting her teeth and looking away she called out, "So….what exactly did she tell you?"

"Huh?" Naruto's cluelessness could really cause some headaches especially for anyone who wasn't Naruto, as he simply looked at the Uchiha with a lost expression.

Satsuki blushed a little in embarrassed at having to ask for help, considering the fact that her progress had went the way of Naruto's just inching her way up. Her Chakra control was excellent and all, but it was still hard to keep it steady the entire time, just be channeling chakra to the soles of her feet. Apparently whatever she, Sakura, had told Naruto had helped a lot too, so it couldn't hurt to find out.

"Ya know, whatever Sakura told you, when you started doing better." Still blushing she didn't turn for fear of making eye contact.

Naruto however after finally getting exactly what she was asking simply grinned slyly. "Oh, are you asking me for help? Oh great Uchiha."

Satsuki growled turning and shouting, "Of course not! How could a dobe like you help me with anything!" Her face had lit up even brighter despite her anger, or maybe doing more so because of that.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the Uchiha losing her cool and finally relented, "I was just teasing you teme, I'll tell you." He then motioned for the girl to come closer to end the yelling not to mention they needed a break at least to catch their breath anyway.

They had ended up staying out for another hour reaching just beneath the top of the tree before the pair finally just didn't have the chakra to keep pushing themselves. With a lot of reluctance Satsuki was able to convince Naruto that it was time to go home.

"Listen, you moron, we have missions to do tomorrow, and just because you wanna stay out here and keep going until you pass out doesn't mean I have to work harder tomorrow because you're too tired!" She may not have been really yelling like Sakura or Naruto had been known to do, but her voice was quite forceful and she was contemplating just knocking Naruto out herself.

Panting while he was being yelled at due to the stress on his body and how tired he was he simply grinned, "You're just worried I'll beat you to the top, if you go now!" He finally stood back straight up and pointedly accusingly, "Believe it!"

"Grrr… You idiot" She was about to just hit him, when she thought about it for a moment and decided to use his competitiveness against him, smirking she looked back at him calmly sliding her hands behind her back and grabbing her wrist before turning, "I guess you're the one who is worried. If you waited till tomorrow when we're both rested there would be no way you could beat me, so I get it. I'd be 'scared' if I were you too."

That had done, immediately he had just slumped his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets, "Fine! I'll go…" As he started off, behind her to leave the training grounds his stomach grumbled loudly, "….Well maybe after some Ichiraku ramen!"

He had reasoned to himself that it had only just turned dark so they would likely still be open, at least for a little while so he'd have to go straight there. This however had caused Satsuki to sigh, since the most direct way from the training grounds to her apartment took them relatively close to there, so she'd have to walk the entire time with Naruto.

They had just reentered the populated part of the village, where there were still a few people out, mainly people closing shops and going home. A few were heading to restaurants or bars, but for the most part there weren't a lot of people in the town walking around. Oddly to Satsuki, she noticed that Naruto had suddenly gotten really quiet and more than a little self-conscious from all the looks he was getting from the villagers.

Satsuki found this to be a little odd, as Naruto hadn't done anything particularly annoying in the last couple weeks. I mean he painted the Hokage monument in broad daylight somehow, but even then that was a while back as well. It puzzled her up until Naruto's mouth had started to move and she didn't quite hear him, shaking her head she looked back at him, "Could you say that again I wasn't paying attention."

Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance, "Grrr. You teme I was saying we passed your turn." He pointed at the Ichiraku sign just a few feet away from where they were standing, "So were you going to eat too or did you just zone out."

"Tch I'm not hun…" Before she could insult Naruto's favorite eatery, a whiff of the aroma from the stand made its way to her, which she smelled and caused an almost comedic like rumble of her stomach, betraying what she was going to say.

"You were saying?" Naruto grinned victoriously.

Satsuki should shrugged, "Whatever, I might as well since I'm here, so I won't have to make anything when I get home."

Naruto actually felt for the girl, not having a family to cook for you really did hurt sometimes, especially since for the longest time, Satsuki did have that. "Yeah, I get that. Probably why I eat out so much hehe heh." He rubbed at the back of his head with a halfhearted smile before making his way inside.

"Ah Naruto, what are you doing here so late, we were getting ready to close up." The old man, Naruto frequently called Old Man Ichiraku had been cleaning up part of the counter as he watched Naruto come in and gave him a smile.

"Just had some very late night training, but it was totally worth it! I've almost mastered a new technique." He clinched his fist in excitement as he beamed at him from the other side of the counter before sitting on a stool.

"That's great Naruto, you're really doing it!" A softer voice from behind Teuchi, spoke this time a girl with brown hair and kind eyes.

"Thanks Ayame!" He couldn't help but smile at her as well, the two had made sure many a time when he'd come in that he was fed even if he couldn't afford it.

By this time, Satsuki had finally strolled up to a stool as well, having watched the interaction between the three, and forming her own opinions on it.

"There you are, was wondering if you had changed your mind and went home." Naruto turned from her right back to Teuchi, "Anyway, a bowl of miso ramen please!"

Teuchi started up the stove before looking over to Satsuki who just shrugged.

"Whatever, I'll have the same thing." She had to admit it was starting to smell good, not that she would tell Naruto that.

The two had sat quietly for the most part and ate, while Teuchi and Ayame finished cleaning up dishes, the stove and the rest of the stand, so it was an almost awkward silence, or it would have been for anyone else. Naruto however was happy to just have some Ramen and Satsuki was happy just for there to be silence. As the two finished however, they waited for Teuchi to get back to the front where they were reaching for their individual money holders to pay.

Before Naruto could even have a chance to pull out old, Gama-Chan, the old man waved him off, "Don't worry about it, on the house." He looked at Satsuki who was still pulling her wallet out, "Both of you, now go on get some rest. I'm sure you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow." Naruto smiled brightly and waved, while Satsuki smirked and nodded very politely in thanks.

"Aw you're the best old man! I'll be back soon, believe it!" He may have spoken a little too loud as Satsuki nearly had to cover her ears as they walked out.

Unfortunately for Naruto who was turned around was unaware of the fact he had walked straight into someone who had been walking by toppling over them, causing them both to hit the dirt. Satsuki recognized the man as a grocer she often went to, he was a nice enough person so he'd probably not be too upset.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I'm going, are you alright." Naruto was in a frenzy apologizing to whomever he'd just knocked to the ground on accident looking for a face, but what he got instead was a shove.

The old man had noticed who knocked him over as soon as he'd landed and saw the same rough blond hair and orange outfit, "Get off me stupid cursed brat!" The reaction had surprised Satsuki who was a couple steps away watching maybe she'd miss-identified the person and it was someone else.

"Of course you'd attack an old man, you damn demon! Like I should be surprised that you would pick on someone from behind, now get out of here before I call for ANBU!" As Naruto ran off, likely headed home, the old man spit where he'd been.

As he turned to leave himself he noticed a blank Satsuki watching, "If I were you I would avoid him, heh. You wouldn't want the village to think he's affected your mind or tricked you to be his friend." Without another word he'd walked into the distance leaving a very confused Satsuki, wondering.

' _What was that all about?'_ Her thoughts were the only thing left in her mind as she quietly made her way back home for the night.

What an odd start to life as a Genin.

* * *

 **A/N:** Bleah, I'm not happy with this chapter at all. I don't know why. For some reason it just didn't sit well with me. I mean, everyone is in character. Yeah I changed things up a little to try and show that the attitude towards Naruto in the village is a bit stronger then it was in the Canon. At the same time I didn't want to go like overboard or anything like that. I guess this chapter just kind of comes off as boring to me. I feel like there is a lot of character development though, even if it is a bit slow.

Alright so the next chapter will be the ending of the tree walking training for Naruto and Satsuki, as well as some glossed over formation training. We'll probably also finally start on Wave after this coming chapter. Like I said changes are coming, they're just a little subtle at first. But as for all things, small changes make for big differences.

ALSO Reminder. There is now an official poll on my profile for potential pairing for Naruto. That poll will likely go on until the Time Skip if not longer. So feel free to vote. At the Chuunin Exams I'll release another poll for side pairings.

 **Chapter Three:** Is it fun yet? By April 30th


	3. Is it fun yet?

**A/N:** Well people certainly liked the second chapter more than I did, so I'm very happy with that! Also had a few ideas given to me as well as a few discrepancies that some things 'needed' to be changed, so I can't keep the universe quite the same, just because logic. Which is okay, and I think in the end will make the story that much better. I won't say what those changes will be, but you'll notice them when they happen.

Secondly, I want to remind everyone to go and vote in the poll on my profile it's not important right now, but figured I'd leave a reminder. Also still experimenting with different writing styles, it is very important for you guys as the readers to comment on this and tell me what you think, so that I know which style both accommodates me and you all.

Final thought, every chapter I'll be shouting out random reviewers or if any were particularly good. Another incentive to review. Oh and don't worry. I'll never hold up an update because I want reviews, but I will say they make me work harder.

 **Shout Outs:**

Heroman45: again, gave another good review, and I liked his thoughts on everything so far. Hopefully more people will do the same.

 **Disclaimer:** Ya know I wonder if you actually have to do this, because writing on a parody site kind of already implies you have already agreed to write only parody to begin with. I would have to look at the terms and services of the membership agreement. Just in case however. Don't own the characters or show. Also don't own the image used for the cover art. Just thought it was cool and represents the fact that this story is made with the knowledge of knowing the entirety of the Naruto lore.

' _ **Tailed Beasts Inner Dialogue/Inner Sakura'**_

" **Tailed Beast Dialogue/Jinchuuriki Losing Control"**

' _Thoughts obviously'_

"Dialogue"

* * *

 **Naruto: New Universe**

 **Chapter 3:** Is it fun yet?

As Satsuki made her way back, she couldn't help but be confused, the way that man had reacted towards Naruto was extremely out of proportion. _'Especially so, when I think of how that old man treats me.'_ It was a jarring experience to see someone treated with so much disdain that it made the hate literally palpable.

The insult as well seemed a little strong, ' _Sure, he's annoying but he's far from a demon.'_ As her apartment came into view she started to shake the thoughts away. Honestly the boy filled her with more questions than answers. Not a lot surrounding him made sense. He couldn't master the clone Jutsu, but was able to obtain the Shadow Clone a far more chakra intensive Jutsu.

After she made her way inside, she completed her normal routine, showering quickly and efficiently, which with her long hair was slightly annoying which was why she kept it in a high pony tail usually, but still allowed some of her bangs to frame the sides of her face. It was just easier that way, and it still kept her presentable, she wasn't a doll to be designed to look perfect all of the time, but she still needed to honor her clan.

As she finally made her way to bed, in her usual nightwear, shorts and a plain navy blue shirt, she laid down with her final thoughts still to her annoyance centered around the blonde mystery that was Naruto. She had decided, the Old Man was in fact behaving completely irrationally and she'd ask either him or Naruto about it tomorrow.

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The next day had come and gone, they had done missions a bit longer then they had the day before, and following the team work drills they had with Kakashi, hadn't had time to finish their work on Tree Walking. She also never had a chance to ask Naruto about the previous night, as he had never run home after training had ended.

' _Is he embarrassed'_ She was confused on it, surely if it was something he'd done he would have just apologized and got over it like he did everything else.

"Wonder why he's in such a hurry to get home?" Sakura's light voice caused her to exit her thoughts, as she turned toward her pink haired teammate.

"Yes, it's very strange and out of character." Satsuki's analytical voice surprised Sakura, as she normally hadn't spoke to her unless she needed to.

Sakura took that as permission to make a conversation, "Well it's not like it's a bad thing after all, he is just a big idiot. And annoying! At least he didn't try to ask me to go out with him again haha." Sakura shrugged showing her deference.

"Hn." Not having anything she really wanted to add to the conversation she went with the patented and trademarked Uchiha Grunt.

' _ **CHAAAA! COME ON! Talk to me! Naruto is just a stupid idiot!'**_ Sakura couldn't help but agree with her inner psyche, but also had noticed Naruto was way quieter today then he had been normally. "I don't think he yelled a single time today… Did something happen you think?" For all the crap Sakura gave Naruto, she was a kind person and a curious one at that.

"A villager called him a 'demon.'" Satsuki simply walked away with that knowledge given, no more really needed said and she really didn't care to keep talking to Sakura any longer. Besides, she had another avenue to go to, since Naruto was not available.

It didn't take her very long to make her way to her side of the village where her apartment had been, given she wasn't as exhausted as she was the day before. Looking around she noticed the grocery was in fact still open, it hadn't quite reached dark yet but was pretty close, so she made her way to it, gingerly.

As she pushed open the sliding door she was greet with the same man from last night, but with an entirely different personality, "Ah good evening Uchiha-San. I'm about to close up for the night, but you can go ahead and get what you need. Oh, and if you need any help please let me know and I'll be sure to do what I can!" The smile he gave her was completely earnest and he seemed to be in a good mood as well.

"Actually yes, there is something you can help me with." She spoke curtly so he'd give full attention to her, which is what he did as he stopped moving the money from his drawl into a pouch which was likely to go to the bank in the morning.

"Oh, and what is that Uchiha-San." Placing the pouch on a drawl underneath his register he walked around the counter and waited.

"What exactly was the reason for your attitude last, in your reaction with you Naruto?" She questioned very carefully so as to make an accusation towards the man, but at the same time, she was felt unlikely to get a good answer.

Just as she asked the question however, the store keeper began to get very nervous, slightly from his brow, as he looked around almost paranoid like. When he looked towards the door he was reaffirmed in his paranoia as well, as a single eye glanced through the crack staring at him, with debilitating killing intent.

Satsuki noticed just a hint of it, despite it not being directed towards her, and had turned to look for the source only for there to be nothing behind her, and the source itself completely gone. _'How strange.'_

For the store manager however he wiped at his eye in disbelief hoping that it was just all in his head and to his relief when he uncovered his eyes the one that had been staring at him was gone along with the killing intent. He knew they were still around though, he just knew it, and he wasn't going to risk saying anything.

"I'm sorry Miss Uchiha, but I have no idea what you're talking about. If that's all you needed however, I really do need to close up for the night." He tried to cover up the slight terror he was still feeling by smiling, which only resulted in him looking even more scared as sweat still poured down his brow. After last night he wouldn't say anything.

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The store keeper, Gaza, his name was had been enjoying a well-deserved evening drinking at his favorite little pub after a long day at work. It was a bit later then he usually stayed out, but after his wife died in the Kyuubi attack, he'd often stayed out this late at least once a month. He still had his daughter, but she'd left home a few years ago, after finishing her merchant apprenticeship for trade agreements, something he was wildly proud of, but left him alone.

These continuous sad thoughts had put a damper on his mood more so, when he walked by another closing shop, Ichiraku Ramen, probably the best Ramen place in the village. However, that wasn't what was on his mind at the moment, instead it was _'Why am I falling all of a sudden?'_ Just then he felt a weight on his chest and looked down first in embarrassment, _'Oh no did I run into some poor kid, I hope he's alright.'_

These kind thoughts quickly turned dark however when he noticed a mat of blond hair, and he grimaced tightly clinching his jaw. He could feel the tension in his mouth from anger, of all nights he had to run into the bastard, which was exactly what he was. As the boy started to look up as they were on the ground he quickly shoved his arms forward pushing the boy off of him as he stood up, "Get off of me you stupid cursed brat!" He had heard the boy say something before he'd shoved him but his anger was so blinding and deafening he hadn't heard it clearly.

Gaza was finally going to do it, he was going to attack the boy now and kill him while he had the courage to do it, but before he could act on those drunken instincts he noticed something different about him. He'd not seen the boy in a couple weeks now, and upon closer inspection he saw that instead of his usual green goggles he had a leaf headband on now, _'So they made the little monster a Shinobi? Damn… I…I can't get my revenge on the bastard now, I'll just get myself killed.'_

Instead he decided to insult his character, after he noticed he had a friend or comrade or whatever nearby he didn't care he just wanted the boy to suffer and be embarrassed. "Of course you'd attack an old man, you damn demon!" He didn't waste any time pausing and went in for the kill, "Like I should even be surprised that you would attack someone from behind anyway. Now get out of here before I call for ANBU to arrest you for attacking a civilian!"

As he'd finished the boy fled, he wasn't crying but he saw whatever was inside his eyes shatter, it almost bothered the old man but he remembered, _'He's not really a kid, he's just the fox in the form of a child trying to trick us and wait for our guard to drop so he can finish what he started.'_

After Naruto had run away he finally looked to see who was with him, he immediately recognized it as Satsuki Uchiha, "Heh, If I were you I'd try and avoid that one." Referring to Naruto, "You wouldn't want the village to think he's affected your mind or tricked you to be his friend."

Happy he'd done his good deed for the night he quickly walked away towards home, but before he made it another block he felt a sudden overwhelming feeling of death, _'Oh Kami no, I'm going to die.'_ He was pulled into an alley and held up by his throat with a single hand by his attacker and pushed against the wall. Only a single eye was looking at him from what he could see by the reflection of light off it and not one on the other side of his face. Though he did see a leaf shinobi headband which looked off kilter from to his the damaged eye.

"Oh g…god…what, what do you want." He was clearly terrified, and didn't know or could say anything else.

"You broke the Third Hokage's law, by speaking about that boy, and in such a tone." The man's voice was low and dangerous, his eye had also narrowed giving him an even scarier visage for Gaza to look into. "I should kill you now, which is the punishment for speaking of that boy's burden, and feed you to the Inuzuka pups."

Gaza had now reached a state beyond terrified and felt like he was about to piss himself in fear until the man spoke again.

"But that would be a waste, so you'll live past this night. But if I ever see you or even hear about you talking about that boy in such a way again, I won't bother killing you myself, I'll just…" He paused for a second as he rose his other arm up raising his headband revealing a swirling eye, "Have you do it for me."

That was the last thing Gaza could remember before waking up in his own home. He had every intention on reporting the incident but realized what a mistake that would be. He'd have to admit to talking about the Kyuubi, which in turn would have him punished by death, and he didn't know who all the shinobi in the village were so there was no way he could just pick out who had done it. So he would just let it go.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Satsuki was going to protest but she could tell that he wasn't just going to tell her what she wanted to know so she relented, "Tch, I know you were there, but I don't know what your deal is, why you acted like that, and why you're behaving like you have no idea what you did." She started to turn back to the door and walk out but looked over her shoulder for just a second, "I do know that I definitely won't be coming back here though." She slammed the door shut out of annoyance as she walked out. It was so frustrating, she normally didn't let her temper get to her, but something like that just made no sense and only served to annoy her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inside Gaza was fuming, he'd just lost his most prestigious customer who had brought in a ton of business herself just by shopping at his store. It made others want to as well, thinking if it was good enough for her it must be a good store, hopefully they wouldn't notice however as she only came by a few times a month. His thoughts however centered on one final thing as he finished cleaning the store and readied himself to go home, _'That damn fox brat and his demon won't get away with this.'_

He looked at all the money he'd made over the week and smiled, he really needed to go to the bank in the morning now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few weeks later things had started to form into a nice tight routine. In the morning Naruto, Sakura, and Satsuki would meet around the same time at the training grounds. There would be a communal sigh of acknowledgement that yes, Sensei would be late yet again, and then they'd all find comfortable places to sit. Then when Kakashi finally got there Naruto and Sakura would yell at him for being late, Satsuki would complain about the two being loud and then they'd leave to start on missions.

Once they completed their daily missions, they'd all have lunch at the training grounds and rest, Kakashi would usually spend the time in between eating and training to convince Naruto of the advantages to reading more. The boy had flat out refused to read, it was such a bore to him and he was a better hands on learner, something they all agreed on. Naruto and Satsuki had finally finished the Tree Walking training that night while Sakura was busy getting pummeled by the stream of Naruto clones she had to fight to condition herself better, and to advance her taijutsu.

After they had finished the Tree Walking training Satsuki had tried to talk to Naruto about what happened the night they got ramen, but he'd just played it off by saying he must have pranked the guy at some time. Even when she pressed for more Naruto just complained about being too tired to answer and couldn't be bothered to think about it. Satsuki hadn't bothered to ask about it anymore realizing that with how stubborn the blond was, she was unlikely to get any answers. She had however figured out one thing, it was big and it was a secret.

As the team members separated for the evening Sakura went off towards her home the same as usual limping and exhausted, and Naruto carefree as ever headed in the direction of Ichiraku. Satsuki however had elected to stay, "Kakashi-sensei, there is something I wish to ask you."

Kakashi sighed and closed his favorite little book, placing it into his pouch, realizing immediately what it was, _'Finally given up on obtaining her answers by herself then.'_

"Yes, Satsuki?" He gave her an eye smile and turned to her to listen for what she was going to asked, "What is it you'd like to ask me?"

"A few weeks ago, I witnessed a villager explode on Naruto for something trivial." She had begun with telling what happened with Gaza and had gone into a bit of detail on it, "The reaction made no sense, from what I knew of the man, having been to his grocery for the last few years, and he was always very kind and helpful."

Kakashi knew what she was wanting to know about considering he may or may not have actually witnessed the event in person but he wasn't going to admit that, "Well what is your question?"

"Why would he react to Naruto that way, so violently." That still hadn't been the question she was meaning to ask and had meant for it to be rhetorical. "I had even caught some blood lust in the air, but it didn't feel like it could have come from him, but there was no one else there." She hadn't noticed the slight wince on Kakashi's face as she mentioned that but quickly continued.

"I would have thought it was just something to do with him, but lately, any time I see him in the village all I see in his direction are angry looks, and not just the adults either. A lot of kids I see also don't seem to like him, I guess because their parents don't either." Honestly she had no idea how long that had even been going on, she never even paid attention until that night after training.

"So I guess I want to know, why do the villagers hate Naruto?" The way she spoke the question implied she had put actual thought into it as well, "I mean they actually hate him, and I know how it feels to hate." She clinched her fist as the image of Itachi, flashed in her mind.

Kakashi thought on the question for a moment, sure he probably could get away with telling her, but he felt like maybe if she continued digging, she would grow to have a different upon on it. Knowledge learned was always more understanding then knowledge given, "I cannot answer that question, Satsuki."

"Huh?" Satsuki was actually a bit taken aback by the answer, _'He didn't say he didn't know. And he didn't say he didn't want to tell me.'_ Her eyes gave the look of her mind working the answer out, until an inaudible click happened, _'He is instructed not to tell me, or anyone. He literally can't answer the question, without some kind of repercussion or permission? Which is it I wonder.'_

Kakashi hadn't bothered saying anything else and chose instead to watch Satsuki's face as she worked out the issue in her mind before he noticed the moment she put it together and smiled.

"Does Naruto know?" This answer was curt and short, she already knew the answer but wanted to hear Kakashi confirm it.

"Yes." He knew Satsuki was smart and could eventually figure out the answer, but he didn't want her to force it, so he sighed. "Don't ask him about it… yet."

Satsuki had made the motion that she was about to protest before Kakashi placed a hand softly on her head, "You'll find out eventually, it's just. He needs some time." He removed his hand before adding, "Should you learn it, remember he's just Naruto, the same knuckle headed idiot he was before you found out."

Satsuki sighed before nodding in agreement, "Alright Sensei."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three annoyed Genin along with one annoyed Jounin finally made their way to the Hokage tower at the end of yet another completed D Rank mission. Sakura and Satsuki were trudging along happy to be done with the mission, though admittedly very bored. The third Genin however, Naruto was very unhappily carrying the objective of their mission, a small orange cat with a red bow on its left ear. The reason why he was so unhappy was easy to see if you just looked at him.

"Grr. Stupid cat, I'll be glad to hand you back to your owner and never see you again." He quickly winced after speaking, the scratches on his face evident as to why he had the sudden sharpness and why he was so done with the mission. As if it knew it was being complained about the cat somehow escaped his grip and started attacking him once again causing him to scream out in pain, "Ahh! No stop!"

"Naruto, if you lose him, you're on your own getting him back. That was troublesome enough the first time." Sakura's annoyed tone caused Naruto to try and get the cat under control as they finally got into the Hokage Tower and started making their way up the stairs.

"OOH My little Tora-Chan! You're finally back!" A rather large woman in a black dress, too much jewelry, and a big doo, quickly snatched the cat from Naruto's arms before snuggling the poor animal to her face.

After handing what looked like an obscene amount of money to the Hokage, he blew out a bit of smoke from his pipe as she walked out of the room. He normally didn't have to deal directly with most villagers when it came to missions however, for the rare wealthy mission originators he'd do what he needed to, to assure a complete mission.

Iruka who was acting as the mission handler today gave Team Seven a proud smile, "That's your fifth mission today, and it's not even noon yet, you guys are on a roll!" He looked to the group, and noticed that even Kakashi looked a little disappointed, he forgot the man had never run an actual Genin team past the bell test, so the constant D rank missions looked to be getting to him as well. "I assume you guys are ready for another?"

Before the rest of his team could accept Naruto quickly jumped at the chance to voice his disproval, "Oh come on Iruka-Sensei give us higher ranked mission! These D-Ranks are killing us!"

Sarutobi smiled while hiding his face by looking down allowing his hat to cover his pleased expression, _'He referred to his team and not just himself? Maybe he's finally getting the comrades he's been so desperate for.'_ Hiding his smile and raising his head up so that he could answer before Iruka could, "What makes you think you and your team are ready for a tougher mission? You do know that we base who we give these missions out to on their skill level and familiarity with their team mates, right?"

Iruka sighed figuring Naruto would have had no idea, he never paid attention to the administration and mission lesson in class, explaining this very subject.

"Yeah! Us, Genin have to do basic missions because we're new and have to work on team work right? And uh.." He closed his eyes while focusing on his concentration trying to recall the conversation with Sakura and Kakashi when they talked about it, "we are…essential to the daily routines of the village." He knew it wasn't exactly what they said but he felt like it was close enough. "But we've been working really hard, and I think we're a good team!"

Satsuki had smirked, they had been becoming a good team, it had took a little while for their team work to start forming into something that could be called teamwork, but it was getting there.

Even Sakura had to admit that the last week or so, they had fell into a happy rhythm as a team, though Naruto was still annoying he had become bearably so. _'Might even be a little boring if I wasn't on his team now.'_

Iruka had a surprised look on his face, as did Sakura and Satsuki had smiles form instead at the very fact that he had remembered that and mentioned that he was happy with his team. Kakashi however, proudly placed a hand on his head ruffling his hair.

"Very good Naruto!" Hiruzen couldn't help but smile, he hadn't just surprised his teammates by remembering that but also his former teacher in Iruka, that basically sealed it. "Well I guess I have to give you a higher ranked mission now. It's nothing too strenuous, a simple C-Rank escort mission."

Naruto however, hadn't heard that last part as he had whooped into the air in victory, "Yes! Thanks Old Man! Wait. What kind of mission is it?" Before he could be answered a side door opened that Hiruzen had signaled for before Naruto had begun celebrating.

"Huh? Who's that old drunk?" Naruto spoke out a little too bluntly.

As the door opened a very tall man with a fisherman looking outfit came walking out albeit unevenly, "I'm Tazuna, master bridge builder." as he lowered a large bottle from his mouth, he noticed where the voice came from "Huh? Who're these brats?" Referring to Naruto and his team.

This time it was Iruka who spoke up to explain, "This is Team Seven, they'll be escorting you back to your village safely."

"How are a bunch of runts going to get me back safely?" Looking at them closer he saw how short the blond one was in particular, "Especially that puny one! He's hardly bigger than my grandson."

Seeing that he was staring directly at him, Naruto as he is known to lost his cool immediately, "Puny!? Who are you calling puny?!" He rolled up a sleeve and was about to charge after him before being lifted up into the air by Kakashi who had a somewhat apologetic look on his face.

"Let me go! I need to demolish him!" He swung his body around in an attempt to struggle free of Kakashi's grip.

Satsuki and Sakura both couldn't help but feel embarrassed by Naruto's actions, both sighing and looking away, trying to pretend to be anywhere but there.

"Naruto, you can't go around demolishing clients." Kakashi admonished Naruto before setting him back down.

"I'm sorry Master Tazuna. He can be a bit rambunctious as times." After apologizing he straightened up, "Besides I'll be with them, and I'm a Jounin, so you won't have to worry about anything we would run into on a mission of this level." He hoped his reassurances would help, but noticed a slight, look that Tazuna gave. He wasn't sure of its origin but he filed it away for later.

Taking another swig of his drink before glancing at them all again he simply shrugged, "Whatever, as long as you can get me there safely. I'm ready to go if you all are."

Nodding his head Kakashi looked towards his three Genin, "Alright, go and gather your packs, prepare for at least a couple of days." They nodded and as they were about to leave Kakashi called out, "Be at the west gate in exactly one hour."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An hour had passed and the trio made their way to the gate one at a time with Naruto being the final one there, a content smile across his face.

Satsuki who had been atop a tree branch swung her legs around and dropped, off her back strapped to her back and ready to go. Sakura had been off to the side of the gate standing with Tazuna when they were waiting. Kakashi had also been at the tree Satsuki was at albeit off to the side a little and with his nose stuck in his favorite little orange book.

"Alright gang, everyone ready?" He got two curt nods and very excitable one from Naruto.

"Good let's go then." Giving the three a happy look he quickly turned and simply started walking, with Satsuki and Sakura directly behind him, followed by Tazuna, then Naruto bringing up the rear.

Normally a Jounin would take the rear position since it was a better spot to react from, but considering Kakashi was the Jounin of this particular team, he took a few liberties with his own abilities to read an environment and comfortably led with a leisurely pace.

They hadn't been on the journey long maybe a couple of hours, when Kakashi noticed they had just walked past a puddle, despite the fact that it hadn't rained in weeks. He sighed internally, there were only two potential targets, himself or the client. Sure he could have just took them out but he wouldn't learn their true target because he definitely doubted they would just tell him. Wasting his chakra on them wasn't a better option either.

' _Well at least this way I'll get an example of the team's first reaction to combat.'_ He would get his wish soon as suddenly a pair of blurs jumped out of the puddle a dual chain connected to the two of them by metal gauntlets as they wrapped and then crossed Kakashi ripping him literally to shreds.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura felt a panic rise up in her as she watched Kakashi killed, she couldn't believe it but knew she had to ready herself and pulled a kunai from her holster and held it in front of her.

"Oh man! Not Kakashi-sensei no way!" Naruto was even more in disbelief and soon felt the presence of the pair behind him, they both started a dual single arm strike with their metal claws before suddenly a weight on both of them stopped the attack.

The two attackers as well as Naruto looked up to see Satsuki standing on both gauntlets at an angle that had stopped their momentum towards Naruto. "Tch." Without a word said, she pushed both her legs down and away causing the two, to splay outwards slightly.

They quickly recovered and turned to charge at Satsuki, who withdrew a shuriken and launched it toward at an angle that made it look like It was going for one of them who rose up their arm to block it. This was for naught however as the shuriken curved and was actually intended for a link in the chain pulling it back into a tree which was quickly followed by a Kunai thrown into the middle of the Shuriken holding the chain sturdily into the tree.

"Argh! We're stuck." Suddenly the two were attack each from their blind side by a pair of clones yellow and orange blurs, "What?!" Each clone landed a single punch across the sides of their faces, before the two nodded and clicked something in their gauntlets causing it to disconnect from the chain. Now that they were free, and without that chain to get in their way they went two different directions.

One went left where Satsuki was, and the other went right where Naruto was, both taking out the two clones that had hit them. They both however feinted going for their respective target alluding Naruto and Satsuki. This lit of a bulb of light in each Genin's head as they figured out the intended target.

Sakura did as well, as she noticed that the one going after Satsuki had disappeared and reappeared off to the side and started charging straight for Tazuna. _'Oh no! I..I have to protect Tazuna!'_ Kunai still how she jumped in front of Tazuna, "Stay behind me!" Though her voice was slightly shaky she was prepared to do what she needed to.

Satsuki, turned when she realized who the target was and used all the speed she had to get in between the enemy and Sakura. Even if she was hit, Sakura should be able to counter hopefully landing a killing blow, plus she would be another body in between the attacker and the target.

Naruto however approached the situation differently, opting to stop the attacker all together and launched himself at the second attacker kunai in hand. He had almost caught him off guard as well, he must not have expected a direct attack and was just barely able to move out of the way of the attack swiping with his claws catching Naruto's forearm, with some strange purple liquid dripping at the ends of each claw.

The strike had stung way more than Naruto expected and he went down looking at his arm and the blood covering his forearm changing the usual orange sleeve to be a bit darker. He did recover however raising up only to see the attacker was gone. He looked to his left where Tazuna, Sakura, and Satsuki was and was about to charge forward when suddenly the remaining attacker was blindsided by an attack faster than anything Naruto had ever seen before.

A shadowy figure had caught him with his forearm embedded into his neck almost completely crushing his wind pipe stopping the attack immediately. This figure also had the body of the other attacker underneath his left arm, carrying him like he was nothing. As the adrenaline wore off a little, everyone realized who the figure was.

"Kakashi!" Sakura called out happily and relieved, that their Sensei was alive, and had just saved all their lives.

"Pft. Show off." Satsuki was wondering how they had taken out Kakashi but now realized he was just drawing them out. For what reason though she wasn't sure yet.

"We've got some talking to do." Kakashi wasn't just referring to his captives however as he looked at Tazuna as well, who looked shook up to say the least.

"First of all though, I want to say great job guys I'm impressed." He smiled at Sakura and Satsuki "Satsuki you did a great job stopping their initial attack and interrupting their methodical style forcing them to go for a frantic attack, which is what they are known for." He had recognized the pair from Konoha's bingo book and knew their style of attack. "Sakura, you were smart to stay back and be ready to defend Tazuna if needed which is what you were ready to do, so good job!"

He looked over to where Naruto was, and had begun walking that way tossing the two unconscious men against a tree, "Satsuki tie them to the tree." He looked at Naruto who just seemed disappointed in himself, who looked away from Kakashi's gaze.

"I'm sorry Sensei, I thought since Satsuki and I separated them, I could stop one of them from reaching Tazuna." He rose his arm up which stung even worse, as the purple liquid that had been in the claws started to bubble in the blood of his wounds.

Kakashi turned to look at Tazuna as he and Sakura made their way over to them as Satsuki finished tying up their would be attackers. "Alright you need to talk, these two are Chuunin level ninja known as the demon brothers, from the Hidden mist village, why would they be after you? This clearly isn't a C rank mission."

Tazuna felt trapped there was no way his village could be saved now he had to try and convince them, "I'm sorry, my village is just too poor, this was the most we could scrape together." He was just going to have to be honest and hope that they would give his village a chance, "You see, we're an island village cut off from the main land and I was in the process of building a bridge to fix that when the Gato corporation sunk their teeth into my home. They're sucking us dry, people are starving and if I don't finish that bridge that'll be it for everyone."

Kakashi softened slightly, he felt for Tazuna, that really was a hard situation especially given they had no ninja of their own, and it's not like Mist could help right now. They couldn't even help themselves. He looked over to Naruto again looking at the wound on his arm, when he noticed something he hadn't seen a moment ago when his jacket was down.

Naruto had pulled his sleeve up to look at the wound, and Kakashi looked at the same time and saw tiny purple bubbles erupting from the wounds. Only three of the claws made contact but it didn't matter they must have all been drenched in poison.

Kakashi was caught off guard a little bit by surprise and sighed, "This mission is officially over, their claws were poisoned and Naruto got hit. So we can't help."

Sakura looked at Naruto's arm as well noticing the bubbles of poison burning in Naruto's arm probably what was causing all the stinging, "Yeah! We need to go back to Konoha because Naruto, we need to make sure he's okay." She was a little worried about Naruto but she had to admit she was also a bit afraid of what else they might run into.

Satsuki, who wouldn't admit to being worried decided to take a glance as well, the wounds were pretty deep, so the poison was probably already in his blood, they'd have to go back now. She looked towards Naruto and nodded silently as well indicating she also thought they needed to go.

Kakashi looked back to Tazuna, "Sorry we just can't help your village, we need to go back and have Naruto taken to a hos.."

Before Kakashi could finish he was interrupted by the sound of steel meeting flesh. Naruto had painfully dug a kunai into one of the three claw marks that got him and caused bloodletting of his arm which also pushed the poison out, as it wasn't high grade and flowed with the blood. As of now the blood was flowing out of his body so the poison followed suit. Everyone had been so shocked by the action that no one could find the words to say anything and could only watch in a silent awe of confusion and then respect as they realized what he was doing, when he followed up by doing the same with each mark.

As he finished grimacing with the final cut being dealt with, he rose the blood covered arm up with a sharp determined look on his face. His jacket's right sleeve now destroyed from the elbow down, blood dripped off his arm, rolled down his arm to his hand where it had also been dripping from his fingers, now held into a fist.

"I will never be the reason that a mission won't be completed. With this vow, of blood and pain. I promise to you my team, and even old man Tazuna, I will make get you home safely. I won't, no I can't! fail again." Kakashi felt a wave of respect him in the face for the blond Genin, that not even a few hours ago complained like a child for not getting a harder mission.

' _Number one unpredictable ninja of the hidden leaf is damn right.'_ He was so proud, but now he wasn't just proud he was angry. Someone had attacked his Genin, that wasn't a move that followed a long life span, not if Kakashi had anything to say about it. However, it seemed that choice was taken out of his hands, as the one whose windpipe he crushed bit his tongue off and drowned in the blood.

He then looked to the side where his brother was, "Looks like you're the only one who's left, guess you're going to be the one who tells me who sent you?" It sounded like a question, but to everyone there it felt more like a very calm statement of something that was for a fact going to happen. The Demon brother knew it too, so he did the only thing he could in that situation, he tongued a molar in the back of his mouth revealing a cyanide pill and bit it, before Kakashi could stop him. He died seconds later gargling into death. The two hadn't said a single word.

Kakashi sighed, they had done what good shinobi do, die without giving up any information, it annoyed him, but that was life. They'd likely find out anyway, if they did end up following through, but taking a second look at the blood pouring from Naruto's arm that may not happen.

"Idiot, you're going to bleed to death." Satsuki couldn't help but berate Naruto for not paying attention as she pulled out a bandage. Looking at all the blood she sighed, she needed to wipe all of that dirty crusted blood and slow the flow of fresh blood before she could bandage it. She wasn't too experienced with that however, but she wanted to help.

"Kakashi, could you?" She spoke a little sideways, annoyed at her ineptitude to help, in this specific scenario.

"Of course, Satsuki." Kakashi took the bandage and pulled out a clean cloth from his own pack, and using that cloth soaked a little water on it before wiping the blood away, causing Naruto to wince a little.

Naruto was looking away talking to Sakura and Satsuki while Kakashi worked on the wound, who was finishing up cleaning and about to wrap the bandage when he saw each wound start closing up. _'What? So quickly? If this the work of the fox?'_ Each wound hissed as the skin closed on his arm, looking as if nothing happened. To keep up appearances and keep the others from asking, Kakashi finished wrapping the bandage anyway, just in case.

"All done."

"Wow, Kakashi-sensei, I don't know what you did but my arm feels a lot better already!" He shown as much by moving his arm around with little to no pain.

Sakura gave a light punch over the back of his head, "Idiot, you were just poisoned and dug it out with a Kunai, take it easy!"

Feeling a bit dizzy from the hit Naruto fell backwards onto his behind, "Whoa, I'm a little dizzy." He rubbed the back of his head in soreness at the pain.

Biting her tongue in annoyance this time at herself, "Shew, I'm sorry Naruto." She reached a hand down to help pull him up, "I guess I'm just so used to you being so annoying I forget sometimes I don't need to hit you over everything." Despite their team only having been together for a little over a month she had to admit, he'd grown the most already, both in mind and body. _'And that speech, is this really who Naruto is?'_

' _Wow, that was odd, of Sakura to be so nice all of a sudden.'_ He accepted the hand and after being pulled up he nodded, "Don't worry Sakura-Chan, I do get a little excited sometimes, but you're right I should be more careful." He looked at his arm, disappointment once again hitting him, he can't allow something like that to happen again, he had to get better. He would get better. _'I will get better.'_

Satsuki, looked away from the two, then towards Kakashi, "You never said how you knew they were there to start with you obviously did"

Kakshi simply gave her a look, "Oh. Well when we were walking by, there was a puddle in the road and if you think about it, it hasn't rained in weeks, so the fact there was a puddle there made no sense. Especially on a sparsely traveled road."

Satsuki accepted the answer, _'I need to be more aware of my surroundings.'_

Tazuna looked around from each face of Team Seven before looking at Naruto, the boy was far different then he imagined, sure he froze for the very first second of that fight but he'd immediately made up for it, by going after one of them one on one. Then there was the thing with that poison, he truly put this random village he was assigned to help ahead of his own life. He couldn't help but like the kid now, "So you'll truly help?" What else could he say.

Naruto smiled and looked to Kakashi, nodding to which Sakura and Satsuki smiled and nodded as well confirming it was a team decision, "What kind of Hokage would I be, if I didn't help someone, right in front of me who needed it!" It was more of a declaration then it was just him yelling out in defiance, and now maybe it wasn't such a pipe dream if he was this determined with every single thing he did.

Kakashi cracked a visible smile, "Well there's your answer Tazuna-san. The Hokage says we're going." He ribbed at Naruto a little who tightened his mouth in annoyance, before walking up to the front of the pack.

Given their latest run in, Kakashi decided he should take the captain position walking in the rear with Naruto up front and Sakura and Satsuki walking either side of Tazuna. It hadn't been long after that, that they reached the meet up point for Tazuna's boatman.

They were apparently close to the border of The Land of Waves, but the only way there was by boat and since the main ferries were under lockdown by Gato, sneaking in was there only choice. Since they had their talk with Tazuna beforehand the boat ride was relatively quiet, though it could possibly be due to the fact that Naruto had fallen asleep.

"So, the kid is human after all." Tazuna's gruff voice sounding slightly admiring of the boy.

"Well, he did lose a lot of blood…I guess really I'm kind of surprised he made it this far." Kakashi hadn't thought of it before, but they really took his energy for granted, he seemed to have a never ending supply of it, but apparently when you blood let from three different poisoned wounds on your arm, it can wear you out. Still though, he didn't have a single bad thing to say about the boy's growth. Though after thinking about some more, it was likely he wasn't even in trouble to begin with, the Kyuubi probably would have dissolved any poison in his body. He might have been sick for a little while, but it would have saved him the blood. He would have to talk to him about it later.

"When we hit land, we'll set up camp and resume tomorrow." The group nodded, they had been traveling all day, and then that run in with the Demon Brothers. Plus out of all of them Naruto definitely deserved the rest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The following morning, the fog they had went through the day before on the water, and what was at the dock had dissipated mostly, and it was pretty clear. So they had started on their journey as soon as breakfast was over, Naruto again leading the pack.

Today Naruto was a bit more cautious and had taken what Kakashi said about observing their environment to heart, silently watching the entire forest in front of them with all the attention he could muster. It was odd at first due to the silence, but they made good time, but out of nowhere Naruto flung a kunai ahead of the group, when he saw a bush shuffle slightly. Nothing came of it however, aside from the group flinching.

"Naruto! You idiot!" Sakura's arm went up for a punch before stopping herself, "Why did you do that for you trying to scare us!?"

Tazuna had to agree with the girl, "I already almost had one heart attack yesterday so could you take it easy today?"

"Naruto what were you thinking? Those are kunai, not to be wasted by…" Something felt wrong he turned to the left towards a different bush, _'A presence? Maybe?!'_

As Kakashi turned, Naruto felt it too and threw another Kunai embedding it into a tree behind the bush, Sakura finally conked him on the head, "You deserved that one, idiot."

Kakashi walked over, brushing the bush aside, to see a small white rabbit terrified stiff as the kunai was embedded just over his head splitting a strand of hair.

Sakura was the first over there after Kakashi, "Oh! Look what you did Naruto, you attacked a poor little rabbit!"

"Oh no!" He ran over to check on the animal, and saw how frightened it was, "I'm so sorry Mr. Bunny!" he picked up the creature and rubbed his cheek on it to try and wake it up, only for it to smell the fox scent on him and flee in terror even worse than the kunai. "oooh."

"Serves you right Naruto, for scaring the poor thing out of its mind." Sakura chastised Naruto who accepted responsibility for it, while Tazuna just stood in the back clutching at his heart trying to catch his breath.

Kakashi however was dead silently as his mind began understanding the situation, _'That's a snow rabbit, and it still has its winter fur, but they only get those when the days are short…or if they're raised in doors, like for a substitution!'_

He looked over towards Naruto, shocked and a little confused, _'Either he has some kind of incredible intuition or he has latent chakra sensing ability.'_ Before he could think any more on it however, he felt movement, danger!

"EVERYONE DOWN!" Soon as the words excited his mouth a loud whooshing sound was creeping up on them all from behind. And on instinct after Kakashi yelled the whole group dived to their stomachs, save for Kakashi and Sasuke who crouched very low to the ground.

"Heh heh hehe." Kakashi looked up to the origin of the sound, which was a huge blade now embedded into a tree with a ninja standing atop it. He looked familiar to Kakashi as well, just hadn't placed him yet.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan. From the Hidden leaf." The man atop the hilt of the blade called out to Kakashi directly obviously aware of who he was, and he had finally put together who he was as well.

Satsuki was simply staring at Kakashi confused, _'Of the Sharingan what are they talking about?'_ Now wasn't the time for that however, as this guy had a different presence to him, that those other two weren't even close to.

"Zabuza Momochi Rogue Ninja of the Hidden Mist." Kakashi sighed and reached up for his headband before being interrupted by Zabuza.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Kakashi. However, it's unfortunate that you need to hand over the bridge builder. So out of a show of respect if you do it I'll let you and your brats go." He knew exactly how strong Kakashi was, and though he had every advantage in the situation, it still wasn't favorable to him, so he hoped for a simple compromise to save them both the trouble.

Naruto simply growled at being called a brat and was stomping ahead next to Kakashi, who held an arm out blocking him, "No Naruto, you'll just get in the way." It was harsh but extremely true, and he felt even Naruto understood that.

"Sorry Zabuza, but I can't do that." After blocking Naruto he brought his hand back up to his headband and was about to pull it up, _'This is going to be tough, I can't hold back.'_

"Listen, everyone. No matter what happens do not involve yourself in the fight, this is out of your league. So I want you to stay with the bridge builder no matter what." As Naruto was about to protest he quickly cut him off, "Remember Naruto, you said that our team work was good? Well prove it by working together to keep Tazuna safe while I take care of this."

Finally pulling his headband up he revealed his covered eye, activating his lone Sharingan, surprising both Naruto and Sasuke. He also surprised Zabuza as well, coming straight out at the start with activating it.

"So, going straight for the Sharingan huh?" He smiled beneath his own bandaged mask, and crossed his heat warmer covered arms over his bare chest. "Not wasting any time then."

Naruto couldn't take it anymore and just had to ask, "I don't get it what is the Sharingan what makes it such a big deal?"

Satsuki took this one, being from the Clan that held the eye, "The Sharingan is a special Kekkei Genkei belonging to the Uchiha Clan. It's a visual jutsu or doujutsu that resides in the back of the eyes and is activated by channeling chakra. It allows the user to read and reflect all other types of jutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and even Ninjutsu." She started to think of her brother's prowess with the technique and tightened her jaw, "And that doesn't even scratch the surface."

Zabuza couldn't help but laugh to himself from his high perch, "You're correct girl, but you missed out on the biggest one that your Sensei there is famous for." Looking directly at Kakashi he continued to speak, "The Sharingan also has the ability to understand any Jutsu it sees, and can copy the hand seals and perform the Jutsu after seeing it even just once."

That definitely caught Naruto's attention, an ability that let a person copy any Jutsu they saw, even a single time, he finally started to realize just how powerful his sensei could be if he had that skill.

Zabuza saw fit to continue though, feeling like he needed to show his understanding of Kakashi's ability and his lack of fear in the face of it, "When I was in the Black Ops ANBU of the Hidden Mist we had in our Bingo book that Kakashi, is said to have such proficiency with it, that he's copied a thousand Jutsu, and is known as Kakashi the Copy Shinobi!"

Mist had slowly begun to creep around the entire clearing, as Zabuza finally finished speaking, while the team was all reacting to the information they had just learned about their Sensei.

"Wow, I can't believe Kakashi-sensei is so famous, that's he's known to such a degree."

' _ **Chaaa! We really lucked out to get such a powerful teacher!"**_

Naruto however, was even more impressed looking at Kakashi with awe, _'I can't wait until we finish this mission, if he's got over a thousand Jutsu I'll bet he'll be able to teach me so many of those!'_

Unlike her two teammates however, Satsuki was much more tempered about her reaction, as she just glanced at the Jounin a little confused, _'I don't get how someone outside the clan could have it, even in our clan not everyone gets it.'_ She looked him over once again, she certainly didn't see any resemblances to anyone she knew. _'Surely he couldn't be related? Could he?'_

Zabuza however, had decided it was time, "No more talking, I need to take care of that old man. Now." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, all three Genin of Team Seven surrounded Tazuna in a defensive formation.

Kakashi however stayed up front ready to begin fighting.

"Ah, so I have to kill you first then, eh Kakashi?" Zabuza's voice held no fear of fighting the man, but he was wary, he was strong, not an idiot, no one is happy about rushing into a fight against Kakashi when you want to take care of a mission as soon as possible.

The former mist Shinobi then disappeared from the position he was at before, sword and all, instead appearing off to the side on a body of water building up chakra and performing a single hand seal. At this the Mist that had shown up early began to get heavier and enhanced by chakra blurring the use of Kakashi's Sharingan, slightly. He could identify inside the mist if he amplified his use of it, but it would burn his chakra more, and he would be better off saving that for trying to get Zabuza into visual range, before extending so much chakra.

"Alright gang, listen up. This mist is enhanced by Chakra, I can still see through it with my Sharingan but it takes more effort to do so, so be on your guard and stay close to Tazuna!"

He could feel the group nod in affirmation, but he could feel their unease soon after as a voice started to echo through the clearing.

"Heart."

"Lungs."

"Kidneys."

"Throooat."

The voice was graveled and terrifying, and putting out an amount of killing intent that the Genin had never felt before, to the point of sickness in their stomachs.

Kakashi could feel it as well, as felt he needed to exercise some of his own killing intent just to show to Zabuza how foolish it was to think he could get away with threatening not just his mission but his team. Pulling some chakra out by concentrating it through a hand sign he was able to blow away some of the mist by simply overpowering it.

The killing intent he unleashed though was massive, Naruto and Sakura could feel it, but they didn't understand it, they simply were not skilled enough to understand true killing intent.

Satsuki had felt it before though, years ago during the massacre, so she was able to interpret it and it was making her feel sick, and terrified more so than she could ever remember being. _'This is too much, this killing intent is tearing my mind apart!'_ Her breathing had begun to shorten as panic in her rose, _'I don't think I can handle this feeling, if this goes on too long I'll lose my sanity.'_

The kunai in her hand suddenly came to mind, _'I need to get out of this situation no matter what, I can't do this! This feeling of impending death is too much I'd rather die!'_ She started to bring up the kunai from the defensive position it had been in and was about to stab herself in the chest.

"Satsuki!" The voice was Kakashi's, he called her out of her mind.

"Calm down." His voice was even and steady, already relieving her mental anguish somewhat, "I'll protect you with my life. I mean it, all of you."

"I won't allow my comrades to die, no matter what." He wanted to reassure them, this was a horrible situation to be put in, as their first mission out of the village and he had to keep them all in a positive outlook so they would no panic.

He turned his head around to give the group an eye smile that they would be able to see since he had blown away from of the mist with his chakra, "Trust me."

* * *

 **A/N:** What did you guys think of my version of the beginning of the Wave Arc?

Whew, that was a long chapter. Over ten thousand words I believe. Yeah I know I said it would be another Chapter until Wave, but I couldn't think of anything else to do in Konoha yet, that wouldn't skip too far ahead. I think I spent probably eight hours straight writing it from 1 a.m. until 9:37 a.m. I kept putting off doing it, but I said I would put it out by the 30th and by god, I try to keep my word.

I definitely felt happier with this chapter. My pacing was all over the place though. I think I got a little impatient, I'll watch out for that in the future. Anyway, they may have been subtle changes, but every single thing that happened is going to make a big difference. Remember what I said, each change, now has its own branching path that will end up in a different destination then the previous one.

As for the next chapter, well. I can't set a date for it, because I am going on a trip next weekend. However, if I can, I'll try to have it out by Thursday at the latest. Each chapter is going to be about this length if I can help it. I like this length, I feel like you're getting more material this way. However if you guys think it's too long let me know, and I can break chapters like this up into two.

Oh reminder, I'll never hold this up for reviews, because I'm doing it for me, and for every person who has reviewed so far, I don't want to disappoint you guys. BUT, that being said, if I were to wake up in a couple of hours after sleeping and saw Idk, ten or twenty reviews I'd have a lot of motivation to work on that next chapter even faster ;).


	4. Kakashi of the Sharingan

**A/N:** I believe it's time for a little change.

 **Thoughts:** By the way, I was wondering if anyone knew of any good betas? Now, my idea of a beta is more than just reads my story and fixes grammatical errors. I need someone who I can bounce ideas off of and can help me create a more 'full' story. Especially since we are officially doing things now.

 **Shout Outs:**

KingKiger: I liked your review of the story as a whole, and as of the Game of Thrones style point of view, I've decided I am going to start doing that more. The more I thought about it, the more I like it, and your review just put me over on it, and I don't know when but it'll happen where that'll become common place.

Blandusername: First of all, love your username, secondly you're probably my favorite reviewer for the story aspect of this so far. I've honestly had a hard time figuring out how to write humor. In person it's easy, I can flip it on like a switch, writing it however for me has become a locked door and I'm trying to find the key. I hope I continue reading your reviews, to help keep me in the direction I need to be going.

 **Disclaimer:** Ya know I wonder if you actually have to do this, because writing on a parody site kind of already implies you have already agreed to write only parody to begin with. I would have to look at the terms and services of the membership agreement. Just in case however. Don't own the characters or show. Also don't own the image used for the cover art. Just thought it was cool and represents the fact that this story is made with the knowledge of knowing the entirety of the Naruto lore.

' _ **Tailed Beasts Inner Dialogue/Inner Sakura'**_

" **Tailed Beast Dialogue/Jinchuuriki Losing Control"**

' _Thoughts obviously'_

"Dialogue"

* * *

 **Naruto: New Universe**

 **Chapter 4:** Kakashi of the Sharingan

Kakashi turned his head around so that his group could see him as he spoke out to them, "Trust me."

After reassuring his team he swiveled his head back around gazing back into the mist making sure his eye was able to discern any change in movement or chakra in front of him.

"Heh heh heh" The laughter had started as an echo but soon felt like it was coming from behind Kakashi causing him to start to spin around.

"Are you so sure you'll be able to keep your word on that Kakashi?" The graveled voice of Zabuza had come from in between the Genin and Tazuna, who hadn't noticed him until right when he spoke. The reveal had caused a sudden reaction amongst every individual there.

Naruto and Sakura both dove and rolled in their respective directions so that they could turn and face the sudden intruder into their formation, while Satsuki and simply spun on her heel and kicked straight back. Tazuna however, not having the physical aptitude of the others had fell backwards in both fear and desperation to get away from the man after his life.

In a flash of impossible movement for their eyes to keep up, the three Genin including Tazuna suddenly watched as Kakashi appeared in front of Zabuza underneath his guard and with a Kunai piercing directly into his stomach where a liquid was pouring out of him. The instance was so quick however no one had any time to react to the sudden good news, which was good because they would quickly be disappointed as the liquid was revealed to be water instead of blood.

"A water clone!" The shocked Kakashi quickly spun around expecting an attack from behind after falling for the clone.

"Too slow." A slash from the large blade cut the form of Kakashi in two, resulting in a combined gasp from the three Genin before the two pieces of Kakashi also exploded into water.

"Gah! A water clone but how?! When?" Zabuza was sounded furious and annoyed and had begun to piece together the situation, _'He was watching me the whole time he never lost sight of me. So that means while I was performing my own jutsu he copied it and hid himself in the forest, and then used his own Water Clone to lure me out.'_

As Zabuza finished his mental assessment of the situation he felt metal laid against his bare neck, and quickly understood what the end result of luring him out with that clone was meant to be.

"It's over Zabuza." Kakashi had reappeared from his hidden position his kunai now positioned at Zabuza's throat ready to cut through it at the slightest provocation.

"Is that what you think Copy Ninja?" Zabuza's voice had lost none of its earlier gruff and superiority. Feeling that Kakashi wasn't going to answer Zabuza felt the desire to show how he was wrong.

"Just because you copied my clone jutsu and tried to imitate my silent killing techniques doesn't mean you could use them against me." Slightly turning his head so his eyes could look into Kakashi's, "Your copy is nothing compared to the original!" He then finished turning attempting to swing his blade only for Kakashi to slice his neck open brutally splitting it open only for it to squirt water not blood.

"What another clone?!" Kakashi turned just in time to catch Zabuza swinging his enormous blade at him again, thanks to his Sharingan he was able to parry it in time but wasn't able to avoid the kick that followed sending him through the air and into the water.

Several seconds later, the form of Kakashi appeared at the surface of the water, with Zabuza having leapt to it from where he was in the clearing. Instead of sinking or making a splash upon contact he landed like he would have on a solid surface.

"What!? Is he walking on water? How is he doing that?" Naruto's voice carried through the clearing, as he looked to his two teammates, Sakura looked terrified and Satsuki just looked annoyed, strangely it seemed to be self-caused as well.

"It must be a continuation of the tree walking technique we learned, it must require even more chakra control…but more importantly…" Satsuki paused for a moment as she began to put the pieces together like Kakashi had as well, "He meant for that to happen, he tried to lure Kakashi to the water like that on purpose."

Both Sakura and Naruto simply turned to Satsuki and gave her a look that showed what they were both thinking, and that was, that they were in trouble, especially if Kakashi couldn't figure out a way to get out of the mess he was likely in now.

As Kakashi popped his head above the water, he could feel the density in the water and it felt much more difficult to move his body through it, "This water is laced with Chakra…." Seeing Zabuza land next to him it clicked, "Of course, maneuvering me to your advantage."

"And now it is over Copy Ninja." Finishing his hand signs he stuck his arm toward him, as Kakashi tried to lift his body out of the chakra dense water, **"Water Prison Jutsu!"** A large circle of water quickly enveloped the form of Kakashi as he made his move trapping him in the now what felt like solid sphere of water that now surrounded him.

"What!? What is this?" The trapped voice of Kakashi was muddled thanks to the water sphere prison that was holding him, but he was still audible enough to be heard.

"This? This is the day you were bested Kakashi!" The rasping had been drowned out by the excited tone Zabuza was using in that he finally caught his target and now he was going to have some fun.

Using a single hand he performed a few hand signs before a puddle of water where his clone had been killed earlier had reformed into another clone. "Kill those brats, heh." The newly formed clone simply gave a smile before swinging his own large blade in anticipation, "slowly." Zabuza had added that final part after turning to stare into the sphere that held Kakashi, so as to reflect on his terror.

Seeing no other avenue but to fight back, Satsuki immediately charged out of the formation they were using to defend Tazuna, and made to engage the water clone of Zabuza.

"Wait Satsuki! We need to stay back and defend Tazuna and get out of here." Sakura's call to Satsuki went unnoticed by the dark haired girl.

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"It's been too long, Zabuza should have been back by now…" Holding the mask in his right hand the long haired boy couldn't help but feel like something was off. Looking off in the distance towards where he should have been, the boy quickly vanished. _'I hope I can get there, before it's too late.'_

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Satsuki had been tossed away with little issue, the shuriken she'd used initially to distract the Zabuza clone were blocked by his large blade, and when she'd tried to use this to her advantage by going vertical, the large man had simply used his blade in what should have been an impossible manner, by sweeping it upward causing her to spin her body away from the strike. The fact he had both size and speed were something the Genin Uchiha could not overcome, so when she had back peddled after her failed assault she'd barely seen it when he'd rushed towards her sending a knee to her gut sending her flying back towards Tazuna and the others.

"Stop it Satsuki, you three need to grab Zabuza and get out of here. Leave me!" His voice though still muffled by the water prison were audible enough for the group to hear, and though it made sense to leave from a battle where they had no chance, the results probably wouldn't end with them escaping.

' _What does he think would happen if we did try to leave, after he took care of Kakashi he'd simply follow us and we'd be taken care of as well. Our only chance is to save him.'_ Satsuki had kept her thoughts on the situation in her mind but had kept her focus forward in a way that implied she wasn't turning tail.

Naruto was now a good ten feet in front of the group as he had moved to back Satsuki up during her bout with Zabuza but after seeing the display of speed and strength had paused, especially when Satsuki was sent flying by from the knee Zabuza gave her.

Naruto had never seen that kind of display of power up close before, coming from someone that wasn't Kakashi and with the actual inclination to do harm to them. If Satsuki was unable to do anything, what better chance did he have? He had actually begun to shake a bit both in fear and awe of Zabuza, _'What do I do here? I don't want to die, but I can't abandon sensei and run, maybe if I can just get back to Satsuki and Sakura.'_

Naruto swung his body around losing his balance as he did so and started to fall to the ground only just catching himself, with his hands on the ground. He felt a stinging pain and with his head now looking downward looked straight towards where it was originating. His forearm, the bandaged slightly bloody forearm, suddenly the thoughts of what he had proclaimed at that moment rushing back to him, _'NO! I won't run! I refuse to turn my back on Kakashi!'_

Pushing himself off the ground he turned back to look at Zabuza who had at first seemed amused by the boy falling over himself to retreat back to his friends, but was shocked to see the newly determined face on Naruto. "What's wrong kid? Weren't you afraid and trying to run away just a second ago?" The mocking tone in his voice wasn't missed by anyone least of all Naruto.

"Ignore him Naruto! Come back over here we need to figure out how we're going to escape with Zabuza!" Sakura was the first one to speak up, knowing what Naruto's temper was like when someone made fun of him, she just wanted them all to be able to escape with their lives.

Satsuki however, noticed something in the way Naruto was moving and hadn't spoke but kept her eyes trained on him and Zabuza carefully, waiting for something.

Naruto who was staring dead into the clone of Zabuza's eyes simply narrowed his eyes and spoke out proudly, "I made a vow to myself and my team!" Holding his arm out proudly the one that had been injured previously by the demon brothers, "That I will never fail my team again, and if I were to run away now and let you have Kakashi I would be doing that!" Lowering his arm now he rose his left one to meet it forming a single hand sign, **"MULTIPLE SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"** As soon as he called out the words, a hundred clones of Naruto poofed into existence filling the part of the clearing they were in, the number of clones hid both Tazuna and Sakura from sight and left Naruto as the focus.

"Let's go!" Immediately the crowd of Naruto clones began to charge towards Zabuza trying to simply overwhelm him with numbers, considering the difference in power and experience that may have been his only chance as well.

It didn't seem to phase Zabuza much after the initial surprise of seeing a kid so green perform such a chakra intensive jutsu, _'What is this kid?'_ Despite that however, he was able to cut through dozens of the clones with his large sword, but his focus was narrowed on the blond.

"Now Satsuki!" As soon as Naruto's voice called out to her, she leapt into the air hand signs finishing on the tiger seal and a sly smirk on her face.

" **FIRE STYLE: GREAT FIREBALL JUTSU!"** Thanks to Naruto's use of clones, she was able to fire the blast straight towards Zabuza while he was busy battling the still tens of Naruto's left on the ground. The inferno quickly enveloped the remaining clones along with the Zabuza Clone, the attack was followed by several poofs of smoke signaling the dispelling of all of Naruto's clones, but before the fire could dissipate showing whether it was effect or not on Zabuza a sharp flash of metal cut through the heart of the fireball, with such strength that it completely dispelled the technique itself. Revealing a mad eyed Zabuza grinning through his mask.

"Hah you thought that was enough to do me in?! Even as a clone, I'm leagues ahead of you two brats." He laughed a bit more at their failed attempt before spotting where the pink girl and Tazuna had moved, they'd moved further back into the clearing far behind where Satsuki and Naruto were. _'Still I better finish this now, before those two come up with anything else clever'_ He immediately took off towards the two faster than the other two could react.

Sakura simply gritted and tried to stay in front of Tazuna kunai drawn, "Heh, cute." With little more than a simple swing of his blade Zabuza had taken the girl out and was aiming to finish off Tazuna before he noticed a smile on his face, "What?"

Turning to the girl he'd just taken out, her two halves burst into smoke dispelling, "SHADOW CLONES?" Spinning he took out Tazuna with his blade as well, causing another poof in smoke, causing him to become even more annoyed. He'd turned to look where he'd just run from and saw both Satsuki and Naruto running towards his stationary form, "Damnit!"

As the two were preparing to throw all the projectiles they had towards the still form of Zabuza a sudden burst of ice shot up from the front of water bed blocking them. The ice quickly formed large tablet like structures soon stacking and forming a half dome just in front of them.

"Wha…what is this!?" Naruto had skidded to a stop as the ice formed, very confused as to what was going on.

Satsuki however, reacted much quicker immediately spinning around so that she could escape the trap and still find a way to Kakashi before it was too late, _'Damnit.'_ Unfortunately that wasn't fast enough as the water clone Zabuza appeared a hand seal already formed, however not quite for the reason she thought.

"Now you brats are really done for hahaha." He sounded cryptic to the girl and this was only furthered by the fact he was actually releasing himself causing a splash of water.

"Naruto come on! Let's go, that Zabuza clone dispelled itself we need to move!" She yelled back for Naruto not particular keen on just abandoning him.

"I'm afraid it's far too late for that." A soft feminine voice spoke echoing slightly, and the reason for that was soon shown as when Satsuki turned back around, the water that the Zabuza Clone created seemed to be perfect to finish the formation of the completed Ice Dome that now surrounded both Satsuki and Naruto.

"No! Naruto! Satsuki!" Kakashi was now in a panic, it'd been a long time, since he was placed in such a completely hopeless situation where he was literally incapable of even fighting to help his team. He was forced to be little more than a spectator to his team's eventual deaths as it looked. _'Whoever this new one is can't be anything good considering the fact they're using ice. So not only am I trapped but now two of my Genin have to fight against a Kekkei Genkei'_ There was one silver lining however, _'Sakura and Tazuna at least seemed to have gotten away so that's good news at least, maybe they can figure something out..'_

"Hehe, it's over now Kakashi, Haku has a tendency to be less than kind especially to those in my way, any moment now we'll hear the pained screams of your team, then you'll understand what I'm talking about." Zabuza sounded very pleased with himself, though it was easy to see why, "I will admit though, had he not shown up, those brats might have actually succeeded in freeing you the way they fooled my water clone. I can see why you're so protective of them."

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"Please just surrender I promise to make it quick and painless, if you struggle it'll only make this much more painful." Haku's calm voice came from the mirror directly in front of where Kakashi and Zabuza were, about ten meters in front of them, making Haku's voice inaudible to them.

"Yeah right! There is no way in hell we'd just give up!" Forming his trademark shadow clone hand sign Naruto was ready to counter immediately, **"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"** Ten clones quickly came to life in the dome ready to attempt to bust their way out, literally. All ten charged at different exits either in between the ice tablets or through them.

Haku however was far too fast for that as the pair soon found out, as his visage seemed to go from each tablet and reflect his appearance like a mirror, and from each of them he threw senbon needles at all of the clones in what seemed like an instant disabling all of them. "As I said, you should just surrender, there is no way out now."

Without saying another word Naruto brought another ten clones out this time sharing a look with Satsuki who nodded, all ten clones moved directly for where Haku was, but he was already got by the time they sprung towards him. He was moving to the opposite side of the dome when he saw that the dark haired girl had spun around as well performing hand signs.

As Haku threw senbon at the clones taking them out in a large clump, he stopped just short of the next mirror as large engulfing flame overtook it.

" **GREAT FIREBALL JUTSU!"** Despite the power behind the technique however after the smoke cleared, the technique had done little more than melt the edges of the mirror and crack it slightly.

"Grr..I can't believe it." Satsuki's voice had just escaped past gritted teeth unsure of what they could do next. They couldn't move fast enough to get out, and the her fire jutsu didn't have enough power to break the mirrors, this was made even more evident by the fact that just a second later, the damage she had caused was reversed as the mirror repaired itself.

"It seems you are unwilling to give in, and unfortunately that means I must eliminate you more aggressively." Haku's tone which was still unreadable seemed to sound darker than it had before, and without anything else said a sudden barrage of senbon needles began to rain down from nearly every angle in the dome.

Satsuki was able to dodge a fair share of them, the ones that had made contact were mainly grazing, though a few had manage to stick in her back and arm. "Agh, even just a few of these hurt.." She murmured the comment to herself and turned to see the damage on Naruto.

Naruto for all his improvement he'd made up to this improvement, speed had not been very high, neither was his technical ability to read enemy movements. This was proven by the fact that not only had he not managed to dodge many of the Senbon he'd been hit by every single on that was aimed at his person. He was more akin to a pin cushion than a Shinobi.

"N..naruto?" Satsuki couldn't help but question whether he was even still alive given the barrage he'd just withstood.

"…" At first there was no reply until a sigh came from his mouth, and he'd begun to painful start pulling out as many of the needles as he could.

"This guy is no joke…" Naruto's voice was quiet. It was an odd thing for Satsuki and probably just as much so for Naruto, but the attack had left him tired but he was focused on getting out so he ignored it and maintained all his energy on staying on his own two feet and trying to think of a way out.

"Pathetic you couldn't dodge a single one." Though he was clearly trying to insult Naruto by belittling his skill, Haku couldn't help but feel a strange odd sensation in the back of his mind, that he was able to take so many senbon and still be on his feet. Sure he hadn't gone straight for the vital areas quite yet, trying to intimidate the pair into giving up, but still, the child wasn't normal.

As if the blond knew what Haku was thinking and wanted to prod it even more, he simply smiled at the insult forming the same hand sign, "Satsuki I'm way to slow, to escape so I'm going to form as many clones as I can, it's up to you to get out and free Kakashi-sensei."

' _That's surprisingly well thought out for Naruto.'_ Despite that however, there were a few details missing, "Not that I'm not happy you admitted how much of a dobe you are in comparison to myself, but that doesn't mean he'll just let me escape even if you do distract him, you saw how quickly he moved through those mirrors."

"Better than just sitting here right?" Naruto's simple reply wasn't wrong.

"Go." Satsuki quickly took off for an exit on the far of the dome, to which Haku immediately started throwing a barrage of needles at.

Naruto, doing what he did best, jumped into the fire cross hand sign at the ready, bringing a dozen of clones this time, absorbing the needles before all dispelling. But before he could react Haku had already disappeared to the other side this time, Naruto formed another dozen clones but wasn't able to do so before at least a couple senbon struck Satsuki in her left leg immediately slowing her escape and allowing for a few more to make contact along her thigh and left arm.

"Gah!" The attack caused her stride to falter before slamming into the ground, one in particular seemed to hit a spot in her leg screwing with her ability to control the leg as well as she liked. Going straight for that needle she pulled it out relieving the stress, and giving her control back of that leg but not before another barrage had made its way toward her.

Satsuki rose her arms up to shield her face, neck and upper chest but only felt a few needles pierce her shoulders and just one going into her right arm this time. Confused she looked up, _'How….NARUTO!'_ Standing as defiantly as a person possibly could in front of her was Naruto, no effort to guard himself or protect his vital areas. He simply stood there like a mountain or a wall in front of her, absorbing almost the entirety of that attack.

Finally Naruto turned and looked over his shoulder, his face seemed okay, it had several scratches on it from the senbon but none seemed to go through into his head, but his eyes. They were almost glazed over, _'How is he conscious right now?'_

"Grr.. What are you doing!? GET UP!" Naruto turned all the way around faster than she expected, and grabbed her by the arm pulling her up to her feet, he looked back at Haku who seemed stiff for some reason than off to the other side before launching Satsuki with what strength he had left, "Get out of here already!"

As Naruto was throwing her, Satsuki noticed just how many senbon had hit Naruto and it numbered somewhere between twenty and fifty, she couldn't tell how many he'd already pulled out. _'How is he doing this?'_ That throw however seemed to have done a number on him as Naruto collapsed down to a knee and began breathing harshly one of those senbon had pierced his lung or lungs he wasn't really sure.

"Now do you see the futility in your attempts. I've decided to no longer try to take you down without killing you both, I apologize, but I am Zabuza's tool and must do as he wishes, and that is to stop the pair of you." He looked to Satsuki who had her eyes fixed on Naruto trying not to look worried but the shock was obvious.

"I'll start with you, the stubborn one." Haku was laying a trap so that he could take them both out at the same time, luring Satsuki in by directing naming his target so that he could focus on taking the stronger on out and follow through by taking out the already weakened one. The way the pair had fought up to this point showed that if he played his cards right it would be a simple matter.

Naruto smirked, that meant Satsuki would be able to escape and free Kakashi all it cost him was his life, pretty fair he thought. _'Wonder if I'll be put on the stone…_ ' Haku flew out of the mirror at an incredible speed throwing senbon before driving towards him with all the speed he'd amassed. _'I just wish I could have got the village to acknowledge me…or at least Sakura.'_ He closed his eyes waiting, _'At least me and Satsuki finally started to get along.'_

The senbon finally made contact with flesh, and Naruto opened his eyes, they just hadn't made contact with his flesh, "But..what? WHY?! SATSUKI!" He caught her falling body nearly as many needles that were in his body now covered her entire body.

"Tsk, I couldn't help it, dobe, my body just moved on its own." She could feel exhaustion hitting her, something wasn't right, she didn't feel like she was in pain just really sleepy. Her eyes however felt particularly weird as if everything was moving in slow motion, did it have something to do with why she suddenly appeared in front of Naruto?

"Your…your eyes, they look like Kakashi-sensei's…" Suddenly it hit Satsuki what had happened.

' _Of course, heh, I just can't do anything right I guess…'_ She looked at Naruto, tears were starting to form in his eyes, it really pissed her off, "Stu..stupid why are you just sitting there staring." She was so pissed but at the same time she was smiling, "You have to survive…don't…let your dream die…like" she paused as her body finally seemed to give out and she hissed out the last word, "mine." Finally her eyes closed and her breathing appeared to have stopped completely.

Haku sighed walking backwards towards the mirror he'd initially charged out of, _'Amazing how she could have pushed herself to that point her speed was incredible, but in the end the result is the same.'_ She looked at the crying Naruto, "Is this the first time you've lost a comrade?" He didn't move or answer, "The way she sacrificed herself for you and pushed her body and abilities so far is commendable, a true Shinobi death."

"Shut up." It started to build slowly at first like storm clouds, the bubbling aura of a rage beneath the surface was straining Naruto's mind. In his entire life he'd never felt like this and he wasn't sure how to even comprehend the feelings that were emerging, he was sad, he was angry, he was distraught, no he was mad! NO FURIOUS! _'He has to pay, no he has to pay in blood! NO HE HAS TO DIE!_ _ **NO!'**_

" **I HAVE TO KILL HIM!"** The rage that was bubbling under the surface was now pushing through escaping steam emanating all over his body something was happening. The steam grew thicker, wider, it was engulfing the entire dome before bursting out, leaving instead an orange aura that was spinning around Naruto and Satsuki's body.

"Wh…what is this? Chakra? But it can't be visible in this form…" Haku felt terrified, there was no other word for it, the things he was feeling from the aura that had appeared around the blonde boy was unlike anything he'd ever felt in his entire life. _'The hate, the blood lust…I can feel death in the air. What have I done?'_

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After the burst of steam had exploded from the dome and was replaced by what could only be described as a demonic presence, both men reacted immediately. "What!? What is this? This foul aura reeks of slaughter and evil.." Zabuza turned to look at Kakashi instead his prison, "What is going on in there!? What have you brought with you?"

Kakashi was froze but just for a second, _'Has the seal broken!? No, we would have already seen the fox, but it's definitely loosened I need to get out of here!'_

"!? He's finally let down his guard" With Zabuza facing towards Kakashi and his guard lowered the hidden pinkette threw a pair of Kunai one aimed directly for Zabuza's head, and the other off to the side.

It was too late for Zabuza however to react the way he would have preferred he had to pull his arm from the prison causing it to fall apart as he jumped to the side, the kunai just grazing his bandaged face, ripping a piece of it off. "WHAT?!" The anger that came from his voice had frightened Sakura to the point of immediately being crushed by his killing intent and frozen to the spot.

Zabuza wouldn't be able to do anything to her unfortunately because the second kunai she threw was thankfully right where Kakashi's right hand was after he felt to the surface of the water after the water prison was released. So not only was he freed by he was immediately armed as well and took advantage of the situation by engaging Zabuza as soon as he turned already putting him in the stronger position. "Fantastic job, Sakura, you bid your time perfectly."

Sakura could only lamely nod, still terrified from the crushing feeling of having been under Zabuza's killing intent, "You knew she was there?!" Zabuza was livid, not only was Haku his prized tool now in danger due to whatever freakish power was emanating from the dome but now, he was back in a one on one battle with Kakashi.

"There is a reason I am known for my Sharingan aside from copying jutsu." Looking dangerously into the eyes of Zabuza his own anger starting to show itself as he struck towards Zabuza with the kunai in hand now pressing it against the metal of his large blade. "Now I think it's time I show you, that copied jutsu are far from my only weapons." The gleam in Kakashi's eye had brought about an uncomfortable feeling in Zabuza as pushed off the Sharingan holder.

Kakashi immediately tossed the Kunai towards Zabuza who deflected it with his Executioners blade, before seeing Kakashi finish a short set of hand signs, before a strange but loud crackling sound began to emanate from his right hand while he held his wrist with his left. **"Raikiri."**

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As Naruto looked up to face Haku his entire visage was now different, eyes were now incredibly dilated and slit at the middle, but not only that, they were entirely red. The veins around his forehead seemed to be pulsing as well showing that a high amount of blood and adrenaline were flowing through his body. His hair had also taken a more animalistic appearance growing out somewhat and more unkempt than normal making him looked more beast than person. That personage was furthered by the way his fingernails had grown and sharpened as well as his canine teeth which had elongated as well. The final touch on this change were the whiskers on his cheeks which normally looked like drawn lines on his face now appeared darkened and more protruded.

Overall it was a frightening sight even for someone like Haku who immediately transferred his body from the current mirror into all the ones available quickly sending a barrage of senbon. Like before they had all hit their mark, but more so now than before it didn't matter, they didn't even seem to give Naruto pause as he simply let out a burst of chakra and all the needles that had pierced him were blown out of his body and destroyed or sent flying by pure chakra.

Not only that, but after the needles had been ejected from his body all the scratches that covered his body seared and healed as if they had never been there to begin with. It was unlike anything Haku had ever seen before, all his previous attacks had been completely erased from ever happening, he was literally starting over with almost half his chakra spent.

Worse yet, he seemed to know exactly where Haku was and immediately kicked off the ground towards him, punching the mirror just after Haku had left it completely shattering it.

' _What is going on? He's getting stronger and faster every second. That power that has come out of him is growing immensely as well. What is he?!'_ His new position allowed him an aerial view of Naruto and that gave him a fantastic opening, _'NOW!'_ As soon as he dove straight down for him Senbon both thrown and in his hands for a driving, Naruto somehow flipped out of the way with some kind of insane speed.

' _I need to move now!'_ It was too late though as soon as he made his move to go back to his mirror he felt a claw hand grasp him tightly around the wrist, growling soon followed as he was yanked back away from the mirror. The momentum pulling him back spun him around only to see a clawed fist coming his way at speeds he could not possibly avoid.

The contact sent Haku into some kind of slow motion experience as he felt his body fly back again this time from the force of the fist that collided with his face, or rather the mask covering it. He was sent crashing through a mirror, completely shattering it and continuing to fly past the debris.

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" **Raikiri"** Kakashi's voice was low and serious as the blue crackling chakra was flashing and appearing to be sharpening in his hand into the shape of blade of lightning.

Before Zabuza could even react a loud crashing sound filled his ear as he looked to the left to see Haku flying through the air passing in front of him before crashing into the woods on the other side of the water. Momentarily distracted however, he hadn't noticed Kakashi charging straight for him, his instincts had simply reacted in pulling up his Executioners blade by its wide side attempting to use it as shield.

It didn't seem to matter however, as Kakashi's chakra covered hand cut straight through it and made it's way through him as well, "Bleah!" A cough of bile and blood burst from his mouth causing the rip in his bandage face mask to open up, causing the mixture to drop down his face and shirtless body.

Realizing his life was over, he knew there was only one thing worthy of the last moments of his life left, "Kakashi…."

"Yes?" Kakashi sighed his arm still buried in Zabuza's body waiting to hear the man's final words.

"Haku only did as I commanded, he was my tool. Don't kill him, send him off to finish my goal." Tears welled in the man's eyes, something that Kakashi definitely hadn't expected, as he contemplated the request.

"He'll tell you who hired us and where to find him, I'd do it myself but bleah!" His reasoning was obvious as he coughed up more bile and blood, before collapsing backwards off Kakashi's hand, his blade falling to his side now out of his grip.

"I'll do it." Kakashi's voice was grim, he knew he could get the intel regardless and just kill the boy, but something about that didn't taste right, besides if he was telling the truth and he knew he was, the boy was just a tool and did at its owner commanded.

Despite knowing he'd failed his goal in life knowing that he'd saved Haku's life was enough to give the man formally known as Demon of the Bloody Mist, a peaceful death as he closed his eyes a smile, a small one, but a smile none the less was left on his face.

Kakashi looked up to see Naruto on his knees hovering over the body of Satsuki, he could only sigh as he started to make his way over walking carefully unsure if Naruto was still under the influence of the Nine Tails though he didn't seem to feel his presence anymore.

Emerging from the woods Sakura made her way over as well with Tazuna just a few steps behind her, _'I guess they didn't try to escape after all. I wonder if this was the plan the whole time. Make it look like they ran away just so they could get me in case the other two failed.'_

Sakura ran straight to Naruto and Satsuki, while Tazuna gingerly made his way over to Kakashi who had paused to recollect his thoughts, "Uh…is the girl going to be okay she doesn't exactly look too uh good." Tazuna's attitude on the group had changed very quickly from his original thoughts especially after the intense battle he'd somewhat witnessed, and honestly he didn't know if he could handle the girl's death on his conscience.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look good." Kakashi started making his way towards the trio once more when, "Satsuki!"

The yell had come from Naruto, "Kakashi-sensei! She just started breathing again!"

Kakashi let out a sigh of relief and continued making his way over to his team, he couldn't even begin to express the pride he felt in them, all of them. "That's fantastic Naruto, listen why don't the two of you help her back to Tazuna's village I'm sure he can find some place for us."

"You will all be staying at my house with my daughter Tsunami, I'll hear no debate on the issue either, I owe you lot everything." He couldn't help but smile as he felt a small tear in his right eye. "Now come on let's get going, we're nearly there so it won't be too long."

"What about you sensei?" Sakura was curious why they were going ahead without him.

"I need to check on Zabuza's subordinate, he said that the boy, Haku would give me everything on who hired them and where to find them." Clinching a fist a bit uncharacteristically, "I plan on giving them a private visit."

Sakura simply nodded and quickly caught back up to Naruto and Tazuna as they made their way into town.

Letting out a long breath through his nostrils, Kakashi relaxed his body deactivating his Sharingan and closed the eye, while pulling his headband back down to cover it. He felt the effects of its prolonged use, and the rush of adrenaline he had from the fight was leaving him, causing him to tire a bit. _'This far gone huh? I need to get back in shape.'_

Without wasting another moment he immediately shunshined to Haku's body. The boy was conscious now and simply staring into the sky above, it had cleared due to the lack of Zabuza's mist, but the sun making its way back did nothing to alleviate the dead look to Haku's face. He honestly had more in common with a corpse than a living person now.

"Please make it quick. I do not deserve to live any longer having failed to be of use to Zabuza." Despite the dead look on his face tears had in fact begun to well in his eyes and slowly roll down the sides of his face.

"I'm sorry Haku but I cannot do that." Kakashi sighed crouching down next to the boy, "He said he had other plans for his tool, and that you were not allowed to die quite yet."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright that's it. I know it took a long time to get this chapter out, blame that on me making it a point to change a lot more than I had originally. I actually wrote this chapter 4 different times. Each time was different. Version 1 was close to the original version, but with more help from Sakura. Version 2 was Kakashi uses Naruto's trick from the bell test and lets a clone be trapped instead of himself and simply kills Zabuza when he's vulnerable. This was probably the one I stuck with for the longest, but I couldn't think of a good way to wrap up Haku. Version 3 was this chapter but written a bit differently, shorter and didn't have the Kyuubi transformation. I really wasn't going to, but I needed it, because I couldn't figure out a 'good' way to have them beat Haku without it. Neither had the power really to do it. I actually had one version where Naruto used Tajuu Kage Bunshin to escape but logically that would put Satsuki in massive danger probably killing her. So I had to scrape it for a slight canon rendition on the transformation. Was this chapter great? No, but it was a necessary step towards what I am aiming to do. As usual, review and give me your thoughts and opinions. Remember stories aren't just a one way experience, we're on this trip together. And trust me we're going to need each other. It's going to get dark eventually.

Now I plan on immediately starting Chapter Five: To be determined, right after I post this, but I am going on vacation tomorrow for about 8 days. I'll be able to check reviews and stuff on my phone but, I won't have my desktop, since I'll be at the beach getting tan, swimming, and maybe even meeting some women. (I hope) Again I want to say sorry this chapter took so long I just wanted it to be good and different. This is the hard part, once we get back to Konoha things are going to smooth nicely again. Oh and not to spoil too much, but we're not exactly done with Wave….just yet.


	5. Change of Plans!

**A/N:** Well, when it rains it pours right? Right after my vacation, I unfortunately became overwhelmed with real life, looking for a new job after graduating college, gotta make them real life monies somehow, and being flooded by the continuous rain, so I've been delayed. On the bright side it gave me time to re-evaluate this fic some and that definitely helps.

 **Thoughts:** I've had the issue of not planning short term and focusing on long term, unfortunately this has caused issues for some of the early chapters since I've been looking past the trees to see the forest. I needed to look a little closer at the trees and less on the forest. I hope that shows here.

 **Shout Outs:**

None: Due to how long it's been since I've updated. I know shame on me.

 **Disclaimer** : Ya know I wonder if you actually have to do this, because writing on a parody site kind of already implies you have already agreed to write only parody to begin with. I would have to look at the terms and services of the membership agreement. Just in case however. Don't own the characters or show. Also don't own the image used for the cover art. Just thought it was cool and represents the fact that this story is made with the knowledge of knowing the entirety of the Naruto lore.

 _ **'Tailed Beasts Inner Dialogue/Inner Sakura'**_

 **"Tailed Beast Dialogue/Jinchuuriki Losing Control"**

 _'Thoughts obviously'_

"Dialogue"

* * *

 **Naruto: New Universe**

 **Chapter 5: Change of plans**

"Is…is Kiba-kun going to be OK?" The small, gentle voice of a lavender-haired girl was filled with worry as she gazed at the futon. The boy she was referring to was resting, both his arms were bandaged and his face was relaxed as he slept.

"Arf!" A small yip emanated from a white ball of fur that was seated on the boy's head as if he too was curious about the state of the boy beneath him.

At the foot of the bed was a tall woman with dark, wavy hair and piercing red eyes unique to her alone; she also wore a short white dress which appeared to wrap around her form that also had a red sleeve attached to the right shoulder. She was covered in tape on her forearms and hands, as well as her legs down to the middle of each thigh. Her name was Kurenai Yuhi and she was famous for her excellent Genjutsu abilities, known to be as deadly as she was beautiful.

"He'll be OK, but it will be a while before he is ready to fight again. This mission may be out of our depth at the moment. However, with Kiba out of commission it doesn't look like we'll be able to head back immediately either. Our best bet is to call for a back-up squad to help us." She looked at the relief on Hinata's face, the girl who had asked about her teammate's condition as well as at Shino, their other squad mate, a young Aburame who sat in the corner of the room quietly as he preferred, likely thinking.

After a few more moments of silence, Shino finally spoke his head raising, as indicated by his dark sunglasses moving upward. "I take it we are to remain with Kiba to keep track of his condition while you call for back-up?"

Kurenai had been about to leave when the boy spoke up, she simply turned and gave a curt nod, while shifting her eyes also to Hinata who was looking down at the injured Kiba, to which Shino nodded as well, acknowledging her unspoken request.

 _'Don't worry Sensei, I'll watch her as well. I'm sure she is probably distraught for Kiba's injuries more than us.'_ With that, he resumed his stoic position sitting in the corner of the room on a wooden chair, his arms crossed with a single insect crawling up to his shoulder speaking with him as per usual giving him updates on the local area, where he'd have had bugs sent for Intel.

With Kurenai, she had made her way out of the small clinic, and was making her way to the closest message post. Seeing as how they were in a land bordering the Fire Nation, they had messenger birds so they were able to send emergency messages. It was just a block or two away from the clinic and she was able to quietly scrawl out a message requesting aid, of at least an additional Jounin, as well as informing of their situation with Kiba out and their mission progress.

"Let's hope there is someone nearby, or at least someone they can send immediately." Kurenai couldn't help but be a little worried about the situation. It was their team's first C rank mission, at the behest of Kiba, after hearing Naruto and Satsuki's team got one just a few days prior to them.

She turned to look at the village they were in; it was relatively small, roughly the size of Tanzaku Gai, save the castle. Instead of that, there sat a small nobleman's estate on the edge of the village near the water. The town itself sat in the Land of Crabs, a fairly wealthy fishing and maritime village, whose recent prosperity came from the recent decline of business in a near country, the land of Waves, she recalled vaguely _. 'The Land of Waves!_ ' Kakashi and his team had been sent there on their mission, a little over a week ago. She may not like the man very much, due to his habit of reading filth all the time, but he was the strongest Jounin in the Village, if not the strongest next to the Hokage himself.

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A couple of days before the events in The Land of Crabs and right after the battle in the outskirts of town, we find Team Seven resting at Tazuna's house along with the rest of the family. Naruto was still sleeping completely exhausted from the previous days' events. Using the Kyuubi's chakra for the first time had sapped him of his almost inexhaustible energy, and he was using the time today to recover.

Kakashi himself had just checked on the boy, a visible smile showing through his mask as he pulled the door closed again. However, he hadn't expected to find Satsuki waiting behind him. "Yes? Satsuki?"

"Is the idiot alright?" The boy had collapsed yesterday after checking to see if she was all right, and honestly it embarrassed her, yet at the same time she was glad they both made it out.

"Yes, he's still resting though, the battle yesterday seemed to have really pushed his limits. I'm surprised he managed to carry you here before he finally passed out. He's something else." He paused for a second to pull out his patented reading material in the form a small orange book. "Even I'm a bit tired myself." Though he put up an aloof persona, he was really tired. "I'm absolutely wore out. I can't remember the last time I was pushed that far, I'm really out of shape. When we get back to Konoha, I'm going to have to start training again as well."

Satsuki began to look off to the side pensively. She had another question, but she wasn't exactly sure what she was expecting for an answer let alone if he would even answer.

"Is there something else Satsuki?" Kakashi could see the look and had a vague idea of what she was wondering, but felt it was better to prod a bit then to just assume.

"How, did the dobe actually manage to defeat Haku anyway?" Her voice was low but discernible. She was genuinely curious, if not a little upset that he was able to defeat him by himself, after she had been taken out.

Kakashi sighed as his hunch had been correct about what she wanted to know, but it really didn't matter as he couldn't tell her the answer she wanted, not yet anyway, though he wasn't really afraid of the law concerning it. It just wasn't his place to tell. He gave the girl a smile. "Well, Satsuki I can't really say for sure, as I was pretty occupied with Zabuza. I couldn't tell exactly what happened, but from what I gather, Naruto seemed overcome with grief at your supposed 'death' and what happened next was Naruto putting everything he had in a final assault, which the results you can see have placed him out of commission for the time being."

' _He basically told me nothing. Which means he does know what happened. But why wouldn't he tell me? Wouldn't he want to brag on his student's success? That kid was barely older than us and was far more skilled. The fact that Naruto won should have been a big deal to Kakashi-Sensei.'_ Knowing that he hadn't given her what she asked for, she half glared at him, showing she knew what he was doing and was about to speak again.

"But if that doesn't satisfy your curiosity, you could always ask Naruto yourself when he wakes." Kakashi, ever the clever man, had been able to deflect her attention from asking him to just asking the source. _'I wonder how Naruto will answer. I know he's probably worried about what his teammates would think of him for what he carries. Satsuki, I don't think she would really care, other than the fact it gives him power. Sakura, however, I'm not so sure. Civilians aren't exactly Naruto's biggest fans._ '

Satsuki conceded defeat and sighed at the response, "Yeah, I'll just ask the idiot when he gets up. So is there anything you want us to do today, then?"

"Today? No. Take the day to rest. The three of you impressed me more than you could have imagined. Think of it as a well-deserved reward, and tomorrow we'll see about helping Tazuna with the bridge and I'll look into this, Gato, character."

Satsuki simply nodded and began to head downstairs, where she came upon Tsunami on the couch next to Sakura talking and sewing, what appeared to be Naruto's orange jacket that seemed to scream, 'I'm right here, please kill me'.

"Are you working to fix Naruto's jacket?" Satsuki surprised the other two women by her sudden appearance, to which the two nodded after a moment.

"May I see it?" Her intentions unknown to them, but they weren't sure why exactly she would want it either.

Tsunami was the one to speak, "Of course, Satsuki. Do you know how to sew as well?" The question seemed appropriate as she had been informed of the battle and assumed the young girl would wish to help her friend. Also being that she and Sakura had just been talking about their own mothers teaching them how to sew, she assumed that Satsuki must have some knowledge as well.

"No. Mother offered to teach me, but I had other interests." She waited of course until after she had been handed the jacket to answer, proceeding to then walk to a nearby window.

Now it was Sakura's turn to voice her thoughts "Uh, Satsuki what are you…"

Before she could even finish her question Satsuki had opened the window and tossed the jacket out while performing hand seals, **"FIREBALL JUTSU!"** As opposed to her normal use of the technique, it was not a grand fireball and was simply big enough to engulf the jacket reducing it to ashes and leaving the other two women speechless.

"It was for his own good, that atrocity would just get him killed." Thinking for a moment about the blonde's reaction, "Tell him: it was destroyed during the battle, or it was too damaged to repair and you tossed it out."

With the way she spoke as well as her logic, there was no way they could disagree with her, so the two simply nodded. Before they could say anything else, she was out the door.

"Curious…" Kakashi had been at the top of the stairs watching the events unfold and he muttered the one word that had summed up his thoughts for the most part. She was changing slowly, but it was happening. Perhaps, the old man knew what he was doing putting them on the same team after all.

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 _ **Drip…drip…drip…**_

Naruto's eyes suddenly shot open at the sound of dripping water splashing into water and was even more surprised to find himself engulfed in the substance. Looking around now that his eyes were open, he found himself in a dark, humid, and sewer-like place.

"Where the heck am I?" He looked behind himself and just saw a long never ending tunnel which seemed to dim the further down he looked, but felt nothing but darkness that way. However directly in front of him, the light stayed dim but never got darker nor brighter. However, instead of the endless nothing that he sensed behind him, he sensed a presence of death, and evil in front of him.

Naruto being the curious boy he was and completely unsure of what was going on, decided to go forward, where he came open a larger opening extending the height of the ceiling several times over, "What the…" before he could even finish that thought, his senses were pulled again towards the enormous metal gate, with a lone piece of paper sitting some twenty feet up on the locking mechanism.

 _ **Hrrrrrrr…**_

A deep rumbling seemed to emanate from behind the large gate like structure before him, causing a chill to ride up his spine.

"Wh…who's there!" Naruto knew that he wasn't dreaming. He could feel his physical body and it felt just like it would normally, so he decided to focus on just figuring out what was going on and tried not to freak out.

 **"Spineless coward…"** Finally, a pair of eyes opened some ways up towards the middle height of the gate, drawing Naruto's attention to them.

At first, it was just the one eye. Judging by the angle, it looked to be a little to the side but a moment later it turned, bearing fully at him. The second appeared along with it, but what really struck Naruto were the large teeth that began to show.

It was around this time that it began to make sense to Naruto, putting together all of the evidence that was before him. "I…I got it!" He pointed accusingly at the large creature, hearing it growl as he did, "You're the Nine Tails!"

 **"Congratulations; you have figured out the obvious. Now why don't you take a few steps forward so that I can** _ **DEVOUR YOU!"**_ With that devious suggestion, a large paw struck the gate; its claws going in between the bars and reaching just in front of Naruto, literally scaring him out of his mindscape.

"Ah!" Naruto's eyes, once again, shot open as well as his upper body as he immediately rose up from the bed, before groaning afterwards in pain.

Looking down, he saw the bandages that covered his body, likely from the battle he had with Haku but he also felt a strange soreness in his muscles. It was different than normal soreness that he would get from hard training or a spar, his muscles felt like they went beyond what they should have and he was dealing with the aftermath now.

Despite being able to move now, he could tell that leaving his bed, at least for the moment, was out of the question. Sighing, he laid his head back down and began to consider the past day's events. He had been utterly out matched by the opponent he and Satsuki faced, yet when she went down, he felt something he never had before. Rage and power he'd never known before erupted from him, and with it, he defeated Haku with little effort. 'The Fox.' A mental image of its eyes and teeth appeared in his mind.

 _'I need to ask Kakashi-sensei, about it. If he even knows what is going on with me.'_ Sighing, he just looked up at the ceiling in thought _. 'At least Satsuki survived, but would she want to know how I beat Haku. What can I tell her? Not the truth, we're just starting to work together, I can't turn around and tell her the one thing that would for sure have her hate me like the rest of the village. Not to mention what Sakura-chan might think.'_

Sleep was a much easier thing to deal with at the moment, so he simply closed his eyes again and allowed his exhaustion to overcome him and he simply fell back into a pained, yet relaxing slumber.

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The next day, wasn't much different. Team Seven for the most part had rested early, but Naruto had finally healed and was up in the morning, albeit after everyone else. Having made his way down the stairs, he noted that everyone else was at the table eating breakfast, including two people he'd not seen before now, Tsunami and her son, Inari.

"Uh, has anyone seen my jacket? It wasn't upstairs with my stuff." Naruto had a bit of a confused look on his face as he looked towards everyone else.

"Heh, losing your clothes now too?" Satsuki laughed a bit harshly at the blonde. "You really are a loser." She scoffed and took another bite out of her breakfast. "Maybe you won't be such an eye sore for the rest of us now."

Naruto gave her a glare, but he honestly didn't have a comeback for her, he could scarcely remember anything after the actual battle and it was possible that his jacket had been destroyed, given the damage it had taken, especially after his experience with the Nine-Tails chakra. Who's to say he didn't lose it, or worse yet if it was destroyed all together?

Remembering what she said yesterday, Sakura spoke up as well. "Ya know Naruto, it was already in pretty bad shape after the battle with those Demon Brothers, so it's possible that during your fight with Haku, it probably ended up getting destroyed."

Naruto thought for a moment and tried to remember the battle with Haku, but he couldn't remember the exact details of his person besides being overcome with anger. Though right after he experienced a surge in power, the same that blasted all of those senbon out of him, his jacket flared open. _'Oh dammit. It probably was destroyed.'_ Naruto sighed a bit sadly and shrugged his shoulders. "You're probably right. Just kind of bummed about losing it."

Lamenting at the loss of his jacket, he decided to focus on that wonderful smell coming from the table and started walking towards it. The only open seat was next to Satsuki unfortunately, he'd just have to hope she was done giving him grief for the moment at least. He grabbed a plate and had started to dig in immediately, his stomach overriding his brain before remembering. "Oh yeah! So who are these two Tazuna; your family?"

"Eh?! Brat, don't talk with your mouth full!" Tazuna looked like he was about to give Naruto a pounding with the way he was glaring at him.

As Tazuna yelled at him, he couldn't help but laugh sheepishly and scratch at the back of his head. "Sorry about that, Old Man, I guess not eating yesterday really made me forget how good food is."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Yeah, they are my family, Tsunami, my daughter, and Inari, my grandson." Tsunami gave a happy smile and as he was about to motion towards his grandson, Inari, he noticed he was gone. The only indication of where he went was the quiet, but audible sound of the door at the front of the house closing shut.

Tazuna just sighed, it had been a while since Kaiza had been killed, but it seemed Inari still wasn't over it, _'Perhaps once the bridge is built and prosperity returns, he'll be able to find some happiness again.'_ He looked over at Naruto who was happily shuffling food in his mouth at the annoyance of his two teammates. 'Being around him will definitely help. He's certainly a bright spot in the world.'

Not long after they had all eaten, Tazuna had headed off to restart construction on the bridge along with Sakura and Kakashi who were going to provide protection for the day. Tomorrow would be Satsuki and Naruto. They would switch again the day after; it was the most efficient way to keep watch over Tazuna and keep his family safe, since the other two would likely be there or at least nearby.

Satsuki went outside as well and sat upon the peak of the roof, gazing out towards the horizon when she heard the door pop open and the following steps of someone around her size. 'Guess now is as good a time as any.' She mused to herself before a sigh left her mouth and she leaped off the building, landing a few feet behind the walking blonde.

"Where are you going, dobe?" She had her arms crossed in a way that made it appear as if even talking to him was annoying to her.

"Well, not that it's any of your business, Satsuki, but I'm going to go train." His indignant tone caused the Uchiha heir to scoff before she remembered her reason for bothering him in the first place.

"Good, you need it." She couldn't resist the easy dig at him, but she quickly continued not giving him a chance to voice his anger. "It'll give us time to talk on the way." Her tone lost its earlier pretentiousness and had sounded more sincere.

"Eh? About what?" They had begun to walk as he made his confused response. _'What on Earth do we have to talk about?'_

"How did you beat Haku, after I was..." She paused for a minute remembering how she had absolutely thought she was going to die after jumping in front of that attack meant to kill Naruto. "...Taken out for a bit."

Naruto nearly froze in his tracks, he was right. _'Dammit why did I have to be right?'_ It was right about now he really wished he had come up with something to tell her now "Well uh…" Naruto quite honestly had no idea what he could tell her as nothing that popped up seemed to be a good idea, and he had all together quit walking forward as well.

 _'Maybe I can try telling her without telling her'_ Sighing, he decided it was better than just ignoring her or telling her the truth and besides, she looked to be losing her patience waiting for him to answer.

"Basically, after you went down..." The thought seemed to bother him as well, seeing as how it had such a visceral experience, especially considering the results of it, something Satsuki noticed. "I felt this surge of anger, I honestly can't remember ever being that angry before. It was like something inside me snapped and there wasn't anything good or happy about the world anymore." Naruto was surprising himself with the description but didn't stop and continued on, "All that anger seemed to fuel me, making me move even faster and I was able to dodge his attacks. It seemed like the more he attacked me, the faster I got."

At this point, Satsuki was actually pretty entrapped by the retelling as well. "But that's not all, I could feel myself just getting angrier and angrier because he kept talking, asking me if it was the first time I lost a comrade." Naruto's hands visibly clinched at the memory. "That you were a true shinobi and I should be proud you died like that." Naruto's teeth began to grind before he started talking again, "That made me even madder than anything else."

Naruto had caught himself, it may not have been exactly what happened, he had transformed after she asked him those questions, but Satsuki didn't need to know that he was already giving too much and decided that was all he could risk sharing. "It gets a little hazy after that, but I do know that I at least managed to catch him with one punch." He rose a fist up proudly and smiled. "Yeah, I definitely remember that."

Satsuki wasn't really sure how to take all of that, it didn't seem like Naruto was lying, yet at the same time, she felt like he wasn't telling her everything. Right as he rose his fist up though, was when some additional details began to reveal themselves, his right arm was pristine. _'Yeah senbon wouldn't leave much unless they punctured a vein or something, but his arm had been clawed by one of those Demon Brother's like a week ago. Without a medic, it should still be damaged, yet here it is, perfectly fine. He should at least have a scar even if he did heal quickly.'_ Something she had always believed was that the boy healed quickly. He had to with how much he punished himself during training, but this was ridiculous; it was as if he had never been clawed.

So Naruto wouldn't notice her internal musing, she quickly acted. "Well, at least you managed to do something right." She quickly turned on her heel, ignoring Naruto's response to her half insult _. 'Who is Naruto Uzumaki?'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few days later, Kakashi and Sakura were watching over Tazuna, making sure he was well protected while working on the construction. Many of his crew had quit leaving a lot of the work up to Tazuna. Naruto, in normal Naruto fashion, quickly offered to help by sending a veritable army of clones for Tazuna to command, to help speed construction. Sakura was over on the side of the bridge closest to Tazuna keeping a close eye out, while Kakashi was towards the other, keeping an eye on the entire bridge while also indulging in some recreational reading, of course.

 _'Hmm. No one has come and attacked, and considering the progress they've made, you'd think that Gato would send someone, especially given the obvious failure of Zabuza and his charge. Perhaps, Haku took him out after all. I should probably go and check, seeing as how he told me where they were just in case.'_ Men like Gato seldom gave up when something got in their way, so he found it hard to imagine that Zabuza's defeat would have been enough to keep him away.

Seeing all of Naruto's clones running around helping, he figured he'd use the same idea and leave a clone on the bridge whilst he went and checked out that warehouse. They were on the same side of town as the dock and warehouse district, so it wouldn't exactly be a difficult thing to find the building and he wasn't wrong.

Just a couple minutes after leaving his clone at the bridge to go find the shipping magnate's warehouse, Kakashi came upon one with the name embroidered on the side of it: "Gato Shipping". Unlike what he expected, however, there wasn't any security roaming outside, which confused him. _'This could possibly be a headache.'_

Taking to the roof of the building, he made his way over to a small window that seemed to have been left open, which was convenient for him, as it allowed him to easily gaze into the building without first having to break or sneak in.

 _'Well, that was unexpected.'_ Almost immediately after looking in through the window, Kakashi felt a wave of curiosity and swiftly swung in through the window, latching his feet to the ceiling with his chakra. Bodies were everywhere, there wasn't any blood however, which meant they were dealt with by someone taught in the art of silent killing.

He began to observe the rest of the scene in an attempt to gather clues, but had yet to find anything substantial, until he saw what looked to be an important room, probably the main office for Gato. It had a solid, black door that looked to have been made from some kind of fancy wood considering it had the polished looking finish on it. Seeing no danger around, he dropped silently in front of said door.

Pushing the door open, which had been slightly cracked, he couldn't help but sigh and shake his head a bit at the visage he was now given. A short, portly man with a very high hairline was pinned to what looked to be an expensive chair by several senbon. They were in his arms, shoulders, as well as his legs once he got closer, however, he doubted that was the worst of it as he looked at the two senbon that stuck out of each lens of the dark sunglasses that hung on his face. _'I'm going to guess he wasn't a big fan of Gato.'_ He looked over the dead man's shoulder, seeing in the back corner of the room was a fairly large safe which was busted open with the door hanging precariously by what looked to be ice. It was empty, of course, and that had been when he connected the final dots of what had transpired _. 'Well. I'm sure Tazuna and rest of the Land of Waves will be quite ecstatic to hear the news.'_

Looking around a bit, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a little disturbed. _'I don't know if I would have just left all these bodies around, however.'_ Kakashi had been on his way back out when he saw a small slip of paper pinned to the back of the black, polished door, which simply held the words: "Thank you."

Kakashi pulled the slip over the door before igniting it in his hand, which gave him another idea, something that could serve two purposes. Gato Shipping was known for carrying illegal substances as well, after all, so it was probably the best solution for matters here.

That same day later in the evening, Inari had been walking around the village as he had been known to do, not really saying a word to anyone, just staring out into the water where his father had saved him. He had been about to get up and leave when he'd heard someone call out his name in excitement, to which he simply did what he normally did and reacted with little to no emotion other than annoyance.

"What?" The boy hadn't even turned, so that they wouldn't be able to see the boy's face weaken, he had been at the place where he'd met his father Kaiza for the first time after all.

"Haven't you heard? Gato's warehouse is on fire! Apparently, it was one of those Konoha Shinobi as well!" The man was older, somewhere in his forties, but from his excitement of the news, he could have been a kid spreading around news about his hero.

This had gotten Inari though and he quickly turned, aside from Tazuna making it home safely this had been the first piece of good news he'd heard since Kaiza died. "What!?"

"Gato's Warehouse is burning down! And it seems as though he and all his men are dead as well!"

The shock on Inari's face showed he wasn't entirely sure how he should be reacting, but one thing was for sure, things were about to change. Despite the sad thoughts that were on his mind just moments ago, he couldn't help but smile and quickly ran off to head back home. As he did, he looked up seeing the trail of smoke in the air that looked to have originated where the warehouse district was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Towards the end of the second week since they left Konoha, the bridge was completed after everyone was completely healed and rested, and frankly, things seemed to be looking up for everyone. The entire Land of Waves seemed to have been rejuvenated, hailing Team Seven and Konoha as their heroes, particularly Kakashi who currently had the reputation of killing Gato and burning down his warehouse. He'd considered telling them it wasn't him who killed Gato, but it would have been a headache to try and tell them differently so he just accepted the praise. It was, after all, better than saying it was the guy who had been hired to kill Tazuna.

All that aside, it was finally time for them to leave and head home. The bridge had been completed and the village was saved and Gato was, for lack of a better word, taken care of. In fact, the group had been about to start their way across the new bridge before they had been stopped for some final goodbyes from the whole village. The goodbye between Naruto and Inari had been particularly heartwarming as the two began to bond after Inari had found out how skilled he was, and that he hadn't let his own harsh upbringing take him down.

With the farewells finally over, the team had begun marching down the bridge in a relatively good mood; everyone was smiling from a job well done and it was mutually agreed that everyone was excited to go home. Even Satsuki, who had been deep in thought, agreed she too was looking forward to going home.

 _'Maybe I'll finally be able to get some answers to the question of who exactly Naruto is.'_ After all, the more she considered the situation, the more it hadn't made sense to her. He was an orphan, a happy-go-lucky blonde idiot, why had no one adopted him? Sure, he was annoying for all those pranks he pulled but even then, that wasn't until he was what six or seven. Why would no one want him before then, especially given how many lives were lost after the Nine Tails attack? Then there was the fact he was given his own place and a stipend by Lord Third.

 _'He must have some kind of Kekkei Genkei that allows him to heal quickly or perhaps even it's an ability unique to him.'_ Both were unlikely as she didn't know any other Uzumakis, and a healing ability like that was incredibly rare anyway. The only person she knew of that had a power that advanced was the First Hokage.

 _'I doubt the idiot is going to tell me if he even knows, so I may have to get the Brainiac to help me.'_ With that thought, she looked over at the happy pink-haired kunoichi and shook her head, she'd really rather not. At the same time though, it was mind boggling how the dead last of their year was getting so strong so quickly.

"Hold up." She was pulled out of her thoughts as Kakashi rose a hand up indicating for the group to stop when a messenger bird quickly swooped down, stopping at Kakashi and landing on his outstretched hand.

Kakashi had reached for the message on its leg and quickly read its contents before pulling out a small scratch of paper and scrawling something on it. He reattached this new message to its leg before sending it back into the sky and proceeded to burn the one he'd just read.

"Well guys, looks like we're not going home quite yet." Kakashi turned to his group who had a mixture of confusion and exhaustion.

"What?! Why not!?" Naruto of course was the first to speak up, in his back-to-normal, loud tone, however, it could have been due to partial annoyance since he'd lost his jacket on the mission.

"I need to get home and see if I can get a replacement for the jacket I lost!" He had said that just as Kakashi had figured the jacket had factored in.

A swift strike on the back of his head by a certain pink-haired teammate was enough to shut him up for the moment. "If you quiet down long enough for Sensei to tell us, you'll find out, idiot!"

Naruto simply grumbled and rubbed his head where he had been hit. She wasn't wrong but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it, nonetheless.

"Anyway, it turns out another squad needs help and since we were the closet available squad, we were the first contacted for back up," Kakashi explained in a frank tone before looking at Naruto directly. "We're headed for the Land of Crabs, a prosperous maritime village off the coast, almost directly west from where this bridge connects to the Land of Fire."

When he realized the info went over Naruto's head, he added: "Which means they'll have plenty of shops that'll be happy to see you." He emphasized the word 'happy' giving Naruto a knowing eye smile.

 _'Maybe Kakashi-sensei does know after all, when we get there I'll have to ask him about what happened'_ He nodded and everyone turned their attention forward again, while he placed a hand on his stomach, thinking intently about what exactly this all meant. _'Was Mizuki right, am I the Nine-Tailed Fox, since he can push his chakra on me?'_

He was brought out of his thoughts by the tight grip of his dark-haired teammate who grabbed his arm, yanking him forward.

"Come on, dobe; I'm not getting in trouble if you get lost due to your day dreaming." She rolled her eyes at the annoyed look he gave her before they quickly began to move up, following behind Kakashi.

* * *

 **A/N:** Content wise, I know this chapter was pretty sparse, which honestly was why it was so long getting out. I mean ugh, who wants to hear about how sad and pathetic wave is. It would have added another thousand or so words just on the sad state of wave, which most people would have scrolled up on their phones going, blah, blah, life is horrible, blah, blah.

I feel like this is one of my more well written chapters though and I attribute that to my new Beta/friend, Cschman20! He's a great writer, and someone I've been able to talk to recently and help revitalize my writing again. He also has his own INCREDIBLY underrated story that he updates very quickly. Horo-Sha, it's a more drama style story about Naruto after the war and working his way to becoming Hokage. He meets a particularly sturdy gal, and it goes from there. I enjoy it, a lot, so I figured I'd let you guys hear about it also.

Oh, couple things, I know the series of events Naruto describes to Satsuki aren't completely in order, and that's his own doing in character. Also, no I didn't do the whole Inari thing, it's been done to death, I didn't want to do it. It's been done so many times would you gain anything else from it? Would it change the experience any?

Inari: Life sucks, you suck, I suck, everything sucks, life isn't worth living.

Naruto: Quit being a baby! I had it even worse and I don't whine like you, I just use it to push myself further!

Inari: Kay.

Did you get anything from that? I didn't. I mean I thought about it, and THE ONLY thing I could have gained from that may have been perspective from Sakura and Satsuki, but it wouldn't be worth the buildup I'd have to do with Inari beforehand. Again not worth the unnecessary typing.

 **Final Thoughts:** Well, I'm going off canon finally, which I know a majority of you have been clamoring for, so let's see how I do. I'm honestly pretty nervous, so wish me luck, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'll work harder on getting these out quicker.


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